After Colony: Rebirth
by Aeternus.Flamma
Summary: Wufei finds himself living on a small island off of the coast of Maine as his life settles down. Though he's convinced himself that he's doing it simply to watch over a woman in danger, there's more to it than he cares to admit. [An introspective piece on Wufei's life after the battlefield. 'Spinoff' of After Colony: Revelation, which doesn't necessarily need to be read.]
1. Chapter 1

After Colony: Rebirth

000

 _This is a direct sequel to After Colony: Revelation. However, you can read this story without having read the first one. You may miss some details about the character of Phe, but if you can simply accept her character and actions, then you'll be fine. This is a piece primarily about Wufei and his own personal growth._

000

Wufei scowled and looked at his hands, noticing he missed a spot of grease near his wrist. While he didn't particularly mind his work, he often felt like he was perpetually scraping off layers of his skin in attempt to be clean after a day in the shop.

Spending years around mobile suits had made him quite accustomed to mechanical repair. Though there weren't many cars in Jasper's Cove, there were plenty of boats that seemed to need continuous fixing. He didn't necessarily need a job—what with Quatre's willingness to pay for most of his expenses—he just didn't like sitting around idly.

Besides, getting a job seemed to be a good enough excuse for the curious townsfolk when he signed a six month lease over at the Tranquil Inn's guest house.

For his first month, Wufei had been the talk of the town, even if was behind his back. He heard the whispers. There were all sorts of theories as to why he just showed up in the town and then decided to stay. Though he found it irritating, he never bothered trying to explain himself. He preferred that he was left alone.

As he turned and walked down the street towards Marty's he grimaced. Sitting in the middle of the side walk was a plastic skeleton that was supposed to be seated on a hay bale outside of the restaurant. He had been picking it up for the past three days.

Frown set firmly in place, he marched over and grabbed the thing by the leg and lifted it up. When he neared the restaurant, he set it down on its bale and placed a pumpkin on its hand to keep it from blowing away again.

"You know, you're the only one who cares enough to pick Louie up," said a voice from the doorway.

"It bothers me," he replied and turned around. "I swear, I will zip tie the damned thing tomorrow if I have to."

Pheona, or Phe, stood leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed and a brow raised. She shrugged. "Then I would just have to cut the zip tie at the end of the night to put him away. I can't leave him out or the local hooligans may get him. Marty would have my head if Louie went missing overnight."

He was still getting used to seeing—and talking to—her every day. He'd only been in town for about two months, but he had fallen into a routine.

In the morning, he would get up early and meditate. Sometimes it would be inside, sometimes on his back porch, and sometimes, it would be on the beach near his work. He would work until about eleven and the walk over to Marty's for lunch. Since he ordered the same thing every day, homemade crab cakes with coleslaw and fresh baked potato chips, she had taken to having it ready for him when he came in. The restaurant didn't open until eleven, so he was often he first customer of the day.

Wufei liked being the first one in. Phe usually sat with him and watched the news while wrapping silverware until another customer came in.

While it wasn't as if he wanted to monopolize her time, he simply didn't like the other customers. Or, more particularly, he didn't like it when some of the other male patrons came in and struck up a conversation with her. There was a voice in the back of his head that tried to explain to him why, exactly, it bothered him so much. But he staunchly squashed the subconscious speaker and convinced himself it was just because he couldn't be sure if they were threats to her safety.

That was all.

Wufei took a seat at his usual spot at the bar while Phe walked behind the counter to fill him a glass of Iced Tea. Once she had finished, she disappeared for a few moments to return with his warm plate.

Then the two sat in relative silence. Phe sat watching the news as she laid out napkins and silverware, wrapping them as she went. He only half listened to the news, knowing he wouldn't have much time after he had finished before he had to leave again. He only looked up when he heard the clinking of silverware next to him come to a stop.

"…Yes Nancy, it does appear that the two were victims of 'the Rapture.' They were a couple who ran week long programs for survival training in Oregon. Based upon the crime scene, it does seem that CSO neurochips were removed from the victims. Viewers be advised: the images you are about to see may be disturbing."

Wufei's jaw clenched as he saw cameras zoom in on the two corpses found laying in the woods. He supposed that they were a few days old and had been exposed to the elements before they were found. He glanced at Phe from the corner of his eye and saw her staring at the screen and absently running her thumb over a patch of hair on the left side of her skull.

"They'll be caught," he said and returned to his meal, disregarding the images on the screen. If he knew Quatre, and he felt relatively confident that he did, to a certain extent, then he knew that the Preventers had people working on tracking down the group known as the Rapture.

Still, he had to admit, he was relatively surprised he had not received a call to investigate. He was one of the closest ranking officers, after all. Why hadn't he received orders to reactivate his status and end his leave of absence?

Her hand quickly dropped to her lap and she sighed. She went back to rolling the silverware.

Wufei was not sure if she, or anyone else, knew of her involvement with CSO. All he could dig up on her was that she came over on a refugee boat with people who were displaced from Germany after the final battle. She had been under the care of a doctor who had listed her as a Jane Doe. There were so many affected by CSO that some countries, like the US, didn't have much problem accepting refugees from certain friendly countries so long as there were no obvious signs of threats.

And an unconscious woman with burns on half of her body and no memory of how she got them or who she was, was low on the threat list in their eyes.

He had yet to find the doctor who had brought her over and dropped her off in the small town of Jasper's Cove.

"Has anyone told you about the Halloween party?" Phe asked, changing the subject as she turned off the TV.

"No one's had to. I've seen the posters on every telephone pole in town," Wufei replied. He finished off his Iced-Tea and Phe stood to get him another, but he shook his head and she sat back down.

"They go a little crazy with it here. But, anyhow, you should go. Meet people. They even give out door prizes. After nine, it's adult only. Kids are sent home with sitters and the parents keep partying. I've heard it's a blast, if you like that sort of thing."

Wufei dug his wallet out of his coat and placed his cash on the counter. "You don't go?"

"No," Phe sighed, shaking her head. "Halloween… it isn't really my thing. Marty closes the place after six because everyone's gone for the evening. I stayed last year and did inventory. I think I'll do it again. No one will bother me if I'm here."

"Do people usually bother you?"

She was quiet for a few moments. Phe rolled up her sleeve and flashed the burn scars visible on her left arm. "I've had my fair share of 'monster' jokes throughout the past two years."

Wufei looked down at her arm then back up to her face, which was already turned away as she rolled her sleeve down again. He hadn't had the opportunity to ask before, but it seemed she had given him the perfect opening.

"What happened two years ago?"

Phe seemed surprised that he asked and she opened her mouth, but closed it again. "I don't know," she shrugged. She was uncomfortable, and he could tell. Perhaps he shouldn't have broached the subject so soon. "I woke up, I was on a boat and in pain. I woke up again, and I was here. That's pretty much it."

Wufei hummed but said no more.

"I'm off tomorrow. If you plan on coming in, just remember that Marty will be working and he won't have food ready for you." Phe took his payment and cashed him out. He was already at the door giving a haphazard wave when she finished. She always tried to give him his change, and he always left it.

000

The following day, Wufei did not get to go to lunch at his usual time (not that it mattered since he didn't plan on stopping at Marty's anyhow.) Instead, he had to hold his tongue while his boss, and son of the owner of McGlennen's Repair, shouted at him.

"Jesus, I asked for you to put in a purchase order, not find a new vendor," Jack McGlennen snapped, waving his hands at the boxes sitting on the dock. "We have a contract with Astor's!"

"They're obviously taking advantage of you," Wufei replied and crossed his arms. "The parts cost almost half as much as they charge—and almost a third if you'll take a referb piece. This vendor is more reliable."

"You don't get to make that decision! You're a repairman, not a partner. You seemed competent enough so I thought you could handle a simple purchase order. What the hell am I supposed to tell Astor's now? They're going to be wondering why we didn't place an order this month!" Jack was about ten years older than Wufei, and he certainly didn't mind treating Wufei like he was some sort of juvenile despite him being twenty four.

"I would recommend telling Astor's that you're trying out a new bid and that unless they're going to match their costs, you're going to take your business elsewhere. And I say this—" Wufei raised his voice a bit louder since the man started talking over him again "—because they are taking advantage of you. You want to buy the warehouse next door, correct? What you would save in a year on parts, the same exact parts, you could use as a down payment at the end of the year."

That seemed to be enough to get Jack to quiet. He still paced around a bit and then stopped, looking at the metal pieces in the boxes.

"Lennard is finishing with the last job. There's no more work for the day, clock out. I'll have to spend the day sorting this mess out."

Honestly, Wufei was thrilled that he was told to leave. He was certainly still getting used to having a 'boss' and he wasn't sure he cared for it. It had been a very long time since someone could tell him what to do. He thought he was much more competent than his fool of a boss.

He kept any would-be mutterings to himself as he started to walk back towards the little town. He had no idea what he would do to entertain himself for the rest of the day. He had already explored the two bookstores the town had to offer as well the dollar theater. He supposed if he wanted, he could take the day to go hike in the forest surrounding the town—but he would have preferred to have left at dawn for a productive day.

As he neared the main street, he crossed the road and decided to enter the grocery store. He had been putting off his shopping for nearly a week anyhow.

While he could cook well enough, Wufei didn't care to do it too much in his little guest house. The kitchen was small and the appliances were old. He didn't care for waste, so he bought very little at one time—milk, bread, some vegetables…He was just thinking of getting the ingredients for shrimp stir fry when he felt someone entering into his personal space.

"Hey there."

He turned to see a woman leaning against the side of the cooler he was staring into. He raised a brow and looked at her; he made it a point to look only at her face since she was wearing a very low cut shirt.

"The polite thing to say would be 'hi,'" she added with a smirk when he didn't answer.

He knew this woman. He couldn't think of her name, but he had seen her in the town before. She was usually with a group, typically with a man or two hanging from her arm, and quite loud. Phe had made it very clear that she didn't like this woman.

"Everyone says you're quiet, I guess that's true," the woman said, continuing to talk despite the look of boredom she was receiving. "I'm Lea. You've probably seen me around…."

She seemed to be waiting for any sign of recognition, but Wufei only hummed in response.

"Well, anyways, some friends and I are going to be at the Silver Spoon for drinks before hitting up the Halloween party. It's actually somewhat enjoyable when you have a buzz. You should come. Meet some new people besides Marty's crowd," Lea said and then fell silent, idly twirling her phone in her hands.

"I have plans," Wufei finally said when he grew tired of staring at the woman. She seemed intent of waiting for an answer and he was intent on finishing his shopping.

He turned and walked away, leaving her standing there, as he went to go find the spices.

Wufei was surprised to find Phe standing down the aisle, scanning the shelves for something. When she spotted him, she seemed to start chuckling.

"Are spices funny?" He asked and reached over her for a small bottle.

Her smile only grew wider. "You know, you may be the first eligible man to have ever turned down Lea."

"Who says I'm 'eligible?'"

"Aren't you?" Phe asked with a raised brow.

He looked at her for a moment, dropping his container in to his basket. He shrugged. "For someone who doesn't like Halloween, you're certainly stocked up." Wufei nodded to her cart which was filled with bags of candy.

When Phe looked away and chuckled awkwardly, he noticed that there was a bit of red creeping up her neck and cheeks. She was blushing—well, he wasn't expecting that. It was an odd sight.

"I like sweet things, and spicy," she said and waved the three containers she was holding before placing them in her cart. "For some reason, I can only taste really strong flavors. When I find something I like, I have to stock up. Dark chocolates and caramels, those are my favorites."

Before he knew it, the two of them were walking down the aisle towards the checkout lines.

"Do you have a favorite candy?" Phe asked as they got into line. She let him go ahead of her since he had less in his basket.

Wufei frowned and shook his head. "I don't eat many sweets. Especially American sweets. I don't care for the taste."

"Huh," she replied thoughtfully, "where are you from? If you don't mind me asking…"

He contemplated hurrying his checkout to avoid a personal conversation, but he supposed that would defeat his whole purpose of staying in the town in the first place. He just hadn't thought that a grocery store would be the place he would start having a chitchat.

But… that was what normal people did, didn't they? And he was trying to be normal.

"I was born in the colonies. I lived there until about ten years ago."

"I hear space is beautiful," Phe commented and started to place her items on the belt.

Wufei clenched his jaw and nodded. He hated this. He wanted to grab her by her shoulders and shake her, shouting, 'you know all of this. Why don't you remember?'

But she didn't. Each day, Wufei had somewhat hoped that he would walk into Marty's and she would suddenly remember. He hoped that there would be a spark of recognition and she would remember sparring with him, or working on their gundams together. He had to face the facts though.

Edan was dead.

Pheona was the one who rose from the ashes.

"The usual, tomorrow?" Phe asked as he checked out and grabbed his bags from the belt.

He gave her a curt nod and bid her a good day before turning to briskly walk towards the door. He hardly noticed the cold glare that the woman named Lea was giving Phe. He also hardly noticed as Lea called two young boys away from their mother to whisper to them.

000

Phe was serious when she said Halloween was a big deal to the island. The kids had a half day (there was one small school on the island for the two-hundred-some kids who were in all twelve grades and kindergarten.) Some of them were already running around in their costumes—though they were mostly standing outside of the shops their parents owned and handing out candy to passerby's.

As much as he wanted to turn away the candy, the few kids who hadn't run away scared by his glare still managed to stuff wrapped goodies into his hands. His pockets were overflowing. It was annoying.

The bell dinged when he entered Marty's. It was closer to noon and there were a few more patrons than normal for the hour.

The first thing that Wufei noticed was that Marty was actually behind the bar, and not Phe. He slowly walked over to his usual seat and subtly observed the bar. He knew she was supposed to be in—she usually told him ahead of time when she was off. "No Phe today," Wufei commented.

"Eh? No… no Phe today," Marty replied. "Iced Tea, right?"

Wufei nodded and grabbed a menu, deciding to find something different if there wasn't something waiting for him.

"So, you're going to the Halloween party, ain't ya?"

000

 _Author's Notes: Let's see…. I think I started this story about two years go. I was in no rush to complete it, not really. To be honest, I mostly wrote it for myself. Gundam Wing is not a terribly popular category, and even less so if you are an author straying from the popular pairings. There was a contest a year or so ago for Gundam Wing fandom authors to write a piece for the anniversary of the series. I wrote a piece that was a snippet of Wufei's life at age thirty (not canon, of course, if you count Frozen Teardrop to be canon.) It was sort of 'fluffy', I suppose? He was having a conversation with his five year old daughter. This story more or less was inspired by that snippet._

 _By the time this story wraps up, it will be a short novel length story, I think. As a fair warning, this is 'romance' story, in a sense of speaking. However, as any of my other readers can tell you, I am not a romance author. When I write it, it is a very slow burn. I do not shove two people together and say, 'now kiss!' For the most part, this will be more of an… introspective piece from Wufei's narrative. It is a story about Wufei learning that there is a life for a soldier beyond the battlefield, if he can accept that he's earned it._

 _Thank you for reading, whoever you may be! I expect that perhaps five people will read this, and then it will disappear into the void of the Gundam Wing fandom, haha!_

 _Ever Your Servant,_

 _A.F_


	2. Chapter 2

After Colony: Rebirth

000

It was a particularly nice night. The week had been chilly, and the ocean wind had been blowing in all day and night. It seemed to have calmed for the evening, at least enough to let trick-or-treaters run around without jackets on after dusk.

Wufei didn't really have a good reason not to go to the party. Essentially everyone he had run into had asked him if he was going. He felt he would catch more flack if he didn't go, and that was honestly more annoying than making an appearance at town center. So, down Main Street he walked again, passing the dark Marty's, and towards the sound of music.

The center was certainly done up. There were numerous carved pumpkins outside with a large, fake spider sitting on the roof of the entryway. There were strings of black lights strung across the shrubbery, with a fog machine occasionally misting the lawn and doorway.

The children who had finished their festivities were running around outside, occasionally entering and exiting the building. They only had about ten minutes left before their curfew hit, and everyone under eighteen had to be out of the building. He hoped he would also be gone by that point as well.

Wufei entered and walked around a bit, sticking to the walls and watching as people danced on the floor. It was all rather tame; fathers had their daughters in their arms, spinning around and laughing under the orange lights, committee members pointed out what decorations they had added for that year, and volunteers watched the punchbowl like hawks. In some of the quieter side rooms, there were other activities—like a fortune teller, a story teller, and bobbing for apples (run by the managers of the local food market, he noticed.)

In some ways, he was quite impressed. The small community didn't have much to do for fun on a regular basis, so they really put an effort into spicing up the holidays. He wondered if they got just as into Christmas—not that he really intended to stick around Jasper's Cove that long.

"So you did come," Jack McGlennen said to him as he walked from the punch station with a drink in hand.

Wufei nodded. "Thought I would see what the fuss was about."

"Yeah, I guess it could seem strange to an outsider, but the community likes to come together for this sort of thing. Makes good memories." Jack stood next to him, and it was when he turned that Wufei noticed that half of his face was done up in horror make-up. It looked like half of his face was burnt.

So Phe had a right to want to steer clear of the place.

Soon, another man walked up to join them. He was older, but Wufei could see the resemblance almost immediately. This was Killian McGlennen, the owner of McGlennen Repair.

"That name's Chang, right?" The older man asked and stretched out his hand. Wufei took it and gave it a firm shake. Killian was quite a bit… rounder… than his son. He didn't appear to be in any costume, though his outfit was reminiscent of the old Victorian Era.

"Yes, sir," Wufei replied.

"My son here says you went behind his back and found another provider for our inventory. Says you caused a lot of problems with our Astor's contract," Killian said. His tone seemed to indicate some sort of warning or something along those lines.

Wufei wasn't sure what to make of the tone, but he certainly didn't feel threatened. "I did order the parts as I was told."

"That you did… I called that other company. Mike Howard's Marine Shipping. Seems that Mike Howard had some good words to say about you—though not about your personality. How did he put it? 'The kid's got a good head on him. He can fix just about anything. But don't expect any good conversation, he always seems like he's got a stick up his ass.'"

Wufei scowled. Yeah. That seemed like a pretty 'Howard' sort of thing to say.

"I worked with him on a few occasions. I assure you, his pricing is standard. He did not discount it for me."

Killian smiled widely and then laughed. "Most people would deny it if someone said they have a stick up their ass, and you just ignore it and get right down to business. I like that. You were right though, Astor's distributor has been ripping us off. I called around to some other of his clients and some in another division, and it seems this guy has been jacking up the prices and taking a cut for himself. I know the guy who owns the company, but he hasn't actually worked there in years. If you hadn't made your point, we probably would have overlooked it and continued taking a hit."

He clapped Wufei on the back and Wufei stiffened. His grip tightened on the plastic cup he had in his hand, and if he hadn't finished most of it, he probably would have caused some to gush over the sides.

"I know you've only been with us for a month, but I see promise in you, kid. I have another guy retiring soon which will cause some shuffling. If you're interested, I would gladly put you into the promotions pool. By the time it comes up, you'll probably have been with us for six months. What do you say? Would you accept a full time gig with us? Half your time in repairs, half in day-to-day management?"

While he wasn't necessarily keen on working more hours, he did like the idea of having a bit more control. But who knew? Maybe he wouldn't even be here in six months. He supposed he could humor the man, if only to keep further questioning to a minimum. "I would be interested."

Killian laughed again. "Good, good… I do have just one more question for you, though it's more of a personal curiosity than anything."

The man started walking, keeping his hand on Wufei's shoulder, obligating Wufei to walk with him. The former gundam pilot suddenly felt rather trapped, almost as if the man had worked on lowering his guard before guiding him off to one of the side rooms. The room was well lit and undecorated, which was likely why it was mostly empty.

"Another thing I found when I was looking into Mike Howard's company was that he was most known for his contributions to the Peacemillion and the Swifttrillion. Now, you're what? Twenty five or something? You would've only been in high school when the Peacemillion was in the media. But the Swifttrillion… That was a well-known rebel ship during CSO's takedown."

"It was," Wufei confirmed, his eyes flickering over both Killian and Jack. As far as he could tell, neither of them was armed, so at least this wasn't an ambush. He could handle two out of shape men if need be.

"You have to see where I'm going with this, don't you?" The man asked raising a brow.

Wufei only stared back at him, his eyes narrowing. "No, I don't believe I do."

"Kid, we just gotta know if you're a threat to our little community," Killian said with a loud sigh. "We have to look out for our own. Were you one of the rebel soldiers? It's the best that I can come up with— you have great skills, but no resume. We took a chance hiring you because you said you could do the job, but you had no references. To me, that seems like a guy who's got no formal training, and hasn't ever worked a real job. Now, it's okay, obviously I'm more interested in your skills and work ethic, but you gotta tell me."

Looking between the two other men, Wufei weighed his options. "I prefer to keep that information to myself."

"Well that certainly clears a few things up. We're a good town here, we're very accepting. I think all of our families came here at one point or another looking to start fresh. If you make an effort and try to fit in, Jasper's Cove can be home. Just don't go starting any trouble." With one more smile and a handshake, Killian was off and his son trailing behind him.

If the town social settings were nothing more than opportunities for people to corner him without drawing attention to themselves, then Wufei didn't plan on going to anymore. Either the town accepted him as a recluse, or it didn't and he left.

He finished his punch and tossed the crinkled cup in the wastebasket before making his way to the main door.

"Oh, sir!" A woman called out to him, just as he was about to make it to the steps. He turned to see a middle aged woman dressed in a rather elaborate witch's costume come running towards him, a bag in hand. "If you aren't staying for the door prizes, at least take a goodie bag back with you!" She shoved a paper bag with handles, tied shut with an orange and black ribbon, into his hands before scurrying off to scold some children.

As he walked back, annoyed with himself for even leaving his house that night and for not throwing the bag away as soon as he was given it, he noticed how eerie the town had become.

Most of the Jasper's Cove was either at home or at the party. There was no one else walking the streets, and he supposed that it wasn't something limited to Halloween. Everything shut down by ten, save Marty's, the Silver Spoon, and one other bar on the opposite end of town.

And since Marty's was closed, the street was almost completely dark, except the occasional street light—and even then, some of them were dim or burned out.

As he started to walk by, Wufei noticed that there were lights on inside of Marty's, even though the blinds were half drawn and it was supposed to be closed. Two of the four-top tables were pushed together with boxes on top of them, and a third joined them shortly after when Phe walked from the back.

Before he could think through what he was doing, Wufei raised his hand and rapped on the glass of the door. He must have startled her because she whipped around, eyes wide. When she saw him, she smiled, shook her head, and seemed to laugh.

It took her a moment to maneuver around the chairs she had littering the way instead of being pushed against their tables. She went to the door and unlocked it, opening it to greet him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, looking to out to see if anyone else was with him.

Wufei raised the bag he had been given. "Leaving that awful party." When she determined that no one else was around, she stepped aside and let him enter, much to his surprise. "Won't you be in trouble for letting someone in after hours?"

"Don't try to rob or kill me, and I think we'll be fine," she said and shut the door, locking it again. "So you didn't like it? A lot of people love it."

"Halloween's not my thing," he replied, repeating her words to him from a few days earlier. He practically shoved his goodie bag in her arms. "Here."

She didn't seem like she would argue. Instead, Phe took the bag and set it on one of the booths. "So what? You here to keep me company while I count bottles and Styrofoam boxes?" She left him standing near one of the booths while she walked passed him and went to the bar. She reached down into one of the mini fridges for two bottles of beer. Before he could have a chance to object, she uncapped them and walked back.

"I guess now I don't have much choice," he muttered when she handed him the bottle. He hardly drank, but he supposed he could manage to socially drink one bottle. "You're allowed to drink on the job?"

"If you're going to spend the night questioning everything I do, maybe I don't want your company," she said with a smirk. She dropped into the booth and turned, leaning against the window and stretching out along the bench. She wasn't very tall, so her shoes barely touched the edge.

Wufei shrugged and took a sip from the bottle, holding back his grimace. American beer, certainly worse than American chocolate. After looking around the bar—the low lighting from just one light and a few dim, covered wall lights, as well as the flashing colored lights of a pinball machine in the corner—he realized how different it looked in the dark. He almost preferred it.

"You weren't in earlier. I didn't think you would still do inventory." He turned to look at her again and was slightly taken aback by the expression she had. Her brows were furrowed and she seemed to stare at him—or, maybe, through him. It was like she was appraising him.

Then she shrugged and looked away, sipping her own beer. "I had a bad morning."

He glanced down at his bottle then raised it towards her, a brow raised. She laughed.

"No, no, not hung-over or anything… my body just… doesn't always cooperate. Marty's pretty good about understanding and opening when I call him at the last minute." Phe reached into her pocket and pulled out a small remote, pointing it at a spot at the bar. It took a few tries and required her to stretch her arm up high as she leaned forward, but she did manage to get music clicked on. "Besides, I love inventory night. Marty gives me a budget—I can order food, sing and dance in the bar to my heart's content, sometimes play a few rounds of pinball, and just count stuff. I may be here 'til two in the morning, but it's fun. And I don't have to deal with people."

"Am I interrupting your fun?"

"Of course not," she laughed, waving him off, "I wouldn't have let you in if you were. I don't mind you. I just get annoyed with some of the other customers. Some of them treat me like their waitress, which I know is my job and all, but I like the customers who treat me as a friend better."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Wufei watched with mild amusement as the woman started getting antsy and shifting around in the creaky booth. Finally, she reached for the bag he brought and untied the ribbon.

"I can't help myself. I want to see what candy you got. They usually have the good stuff."

As she dumped the bag and started diligently sorting through the treats—a few king sized bars, some orange wrapped truffles, and a single serve juice bottle to name a few—Wufei allowed himself to smile in the slightest possible way.

"You're like a child."

Phe glanced up at him, a half-smile firmly in place. She didn't seem to be offended, at least. "I have two years of memories. I'm lucky enough to be a mostly functional adult with the amount that I've forgotten."

He flicked a caramel she missed in her direction. It almost slid off the table, but she caught it. "You seem to do alright. Does it bother you that you can't remember?"

She continued looking down and shrugged. "I figure I'm better off. I could have been an awful person. Maybe I did awful things. Maybe I'm being punished. The doctor who saved me said I'm lucky to be alive. Honestly, I probably don't want to remember whatever it was that caused me to wake up covered in burns and a bullet—" she stopped suddenly and fell quiet, still looking down.

"I apologize," Wufei reluctantly said as the tension in the air started rising, "you've probably had this conversation often and tire of it. I shouldn't have asked. It isn't my business."

She seemed to force a smile as she scooped the candy she wanted to the side. "As long as you aren't a reporter or something, looking for tragic stories to write on."

He laughed; he couldn't help it—though it was almost more like a bark. "A reporter? No, definitely not a reporter. That's… a rather amusing thought though."

After a moment, her smile widened and she laughed too. "I think that's the first time I've heard you laugh since you've got here."

"It doesn't happen often, I assure you," he replied and turned, stretching out as well. He had to bend his knee for his foot to keep from hanging over the edge of the bench. "How can you do that? That must taste awful."

Phe started unwrapping candy. She had popped a piece in her mouth and didn't hesitate to take a swig from her bottle a moment later. "Eh, I can barely taste it. It doesn't bother me. Only strong flavors, remember? So, if you aren't a reporter, why did you come here? I'm serious, I really thought you would turn out to be a reporter."

Wufei supposed he had done enough prying on his own that it was only fair for him to return the favor. Besides, sitting in the quiet of the bar with privacy was much preferred over the chaos of the grocery store.

"The day I came here, Maggie, at the Inn, called me a soul searcher. She may have been right. I just didn't know it yet," Wufei said and slowly turned his bottle in his hand. The wrapper was already starting to come off from being wet. The more his turned it, the more it peeled back.

"Did you find it? Whatever you were searching for then?"

He sighed and put his head back, then gave a slow and slight nod. "In some ways. I had an idea what I was looking for, but… it turned out not to be what I expected."

"I bet that was a disappointment," she said, "especially if you had to come all the way to little Jasper's Cove to find it."

"It was just different."

Phe opened her mouth to speak when there was a sudden 'smack' against the window behind them. Wufei immediately dove from the booth, grabbing the woman's arm and pulling her down with him. She more or less fell out of the booth, with the way he pulled her, but she didn't seem to mind.

Smack, smack, smack smack.

Phe started to sit up, but he grabbed her and kept her down. "Stay down," he hissed and peeked up.

There was something dripping down the window.

"Those little bastards," Phe snapped. He glanced over to see that she had disregarded him and sat up anyhow. In a moment, she was on her feet and running to the door. She unlocked it and whipped it open, running to the street. "We have security cameras, you little brats!"

Smack, smack.

Two more eggs came flying out from behind a parked car, hitting her square in the chest and stomach, as giggles were heard running away.

Wufei shut the door behind her once she walked in muttering to herself, and locked it. His adrenaline was already pumping and he knew it would take few minutes before he calmed down. After going so long without hearing gunfire, he thought, for a moment, they were being shot at.

He wasn't expecting some punk ass kids egging the restaurant.

"This is not what I needed today," Phe said bitterly, wiping some of the dripping yolk from her shirt with her hand, then washing it in the sink. "There's a box of tee shirts on the table, will you please toss me one?"

Wufei figured she meant one of the three boxes she had sitting out to count. Inside, there were a few smaller bundles of white shirts by size, all with the Marty's logo on the front, left breast, and across the back. He pulled one out and tossed it to her.

Phe briefly disappeared in the back before returning, her long-sleeved black shirt crumpled in a shopping bag. He could see her scars the entire way up her left arm. She continued muttering to herself as she filled a bucket with soap and water.

"Marty's going to flip when he hears about this. I bet I know the two brats too. The two youngest kids of the Donahue clan. I live up the street from their aunt and uncle, and they're always running through my yard. I really have to put up a fence around my garden next year—they kill everything! Now I have to clean the damned window again…"

"I'll help—"

"—no, no. I've got it. It will only take me a few minutes. But I can't imagine you'll want to stick around now. I have to finish counting those boxes as well as a few things in the back before I can head out. I don't plan on being too late though. Any good mood I had is gone. If those kids come back, I don't want to have to clean another mess, just because I was here…" She turned off the water and grabbed a rag before lugging the bucket towards the door.

Wufei thought about taking off. He would only be more of a distraction for her if he stuck around. However, he stayed. He had a bad feeling—Quatre would have said it was his gut instinct, and Quatre always listened to that instinct.

He watched from the booth as Phe scrubbed down the water. After she got the yolk from the window, she leaned forward and stuck her tongue out at him. Then she smiled and went back to scrubbing.

When she came back in, Wufei sat back down at the booth. "I will wait until you're done. I will walk you home."

"You certainly have an air of authority about you, don't you?" Phe said as she dumped the rest of the soapy water down the sink. "I'm a big girl. I can walk home by myself."

"That wasn't a suggestion," Wufei replied and crossed his arms. "Do you have problems with anyone in the town?"

Phe shrugged. "Not really. I mean, there are a few people who are hardly kind to me, but you can't expect everyone to like you, can you?"

Wufei fully expected no one to like him.

When he didn't respond right away, he noticed her raise her hand to her left temple again. He wondered if it was a nervous habit, or if she did it when thinking of something in particular.

"I saw that woman, Lea, speaking with two boys in the grocery store. I didn't get a good look at them just now, but they could have been the same…"

"Yup," she groaned, "that would be the Donahue brats. She's one of their aunts. Youngest sister to the Donahue brothers."

He would have to do a bit of research on the family. If they were a possible threat, he would find a way to deal with it.

"Is there a reason she would target you specifically?" Wufei asked and looked out the window. The streetlight outside of the restaurant was rather dim, but he still felt he could see movement if he had a view outside.

"Target? Christ you make it sound like she wants to kill me… It's nothing like that, at least, I hope not. No, it's just that she has a real "alpha female" mentality. The people here our age have grown up listening to her and doing as she says. I supposed that's just part of living in a small town or something, I don't know. Anyhow, since I didn't grow up here, I don't have that fear, or respect, or whatever it is that other people have. She's always been spoiled rotten, I gather, and I don't cater to it."

"That's all?" He looked back at her and raised a brow. It seemed rather unlikely that a mutual dislike grew from nowhere.

"Basically," Phe muttered and then walked to the back.

Wufei sat there, quietly looking out the window, just in case. The volume on the stereo went up, and he supposed she turned it up with her remote so she could hear it in the back. When the track changed, he heard her start to sing.

He quickly looked back at the door she had disappeared through. Singing? It was odd enough to get used to her speaking, but singing? He had never imagined it. He couldn't hear her very well, since the door was shut and she wasn't exactly performing, but as far as he could tell, she wasn't bad—especially for someone who spent six years of their life mute.

After she remained in the back for another song, he contemplated leaving. However, when he pulled out his phone to scroll through some news websites, he changed his mind.

There had been another attack on CSO Gen Two's, this time in Nevada. As usual, their neurochips had been removed.

Six months after the fall of CSO, there had been an anonymous movement calling for the elimination of anyone who had undergone CSO neurosurgery. Of course, so many people had been forced into the experiments that the movement quickly fizzled out. Periodically, there would a news story about a Gen Two that was attacked and mutilated. It particularly bothered him since he had met with most of the individuals who had been killed at one point or another during his time creating a Gen Two registrar.

Most of them had been grateful to be free from CSO—they were thrilled to know that no one could access them and force them to carry out unwanted orders. Wufei knew that the pair who had been killed a few days earlier in Oregon had a son together.

After he read the story, he placed his phone down, checked the front door again just to make sure it was locked, and then sat and finished his drink.

He would wait, just in case.

Twenty minutes later, Phe exited from the back. "You're still here? I thought you would leave as soon as I went to the back…"

"Who would have locked the door if I had?" He asked and stood, walking to stand at the bar.

"That's a good point," she replied and took a moment to wipe off some water that had splashed on the counter when she dumped the bucket. "So, okay, there's a little bit more to the whole Lea thing."

Wufei hummed and raised a brow.

"The doctor that brought me here… He's Marty's—he was Marty's son. He was basically the most successful person to ever get out of this town. He was a good man, did a lot for me when he didn't have to. Anyhow, he brought me here and was helping with my injuries and… trying to get me to talk. When he finally thought it was okay for me to start moving around, which was faster than he thought it would be, he brought me here." She paused and looked up, waving her hand.

"Most of the people knew I was coming, and they were nice enough. They didn't say anything about the bandages or the way I struggled to walk. But Lea was here, and she had been drinking with her friends. I guess she tried to hook up with David every time he was in town. She started hanging all over him and he tried to be nice, tried to get her to go back to her friends—said that he was busy and they could talk later. Lea doesn't like to be ignored. She said something along the lines of him being too busy babysitting a monster, and he should leave his project at home. Called him Doctor Frankenstein. I didn't remember who that was—I had to look it up. You could imagine how thrilled I was when I found out."

Phe gave a laugh and sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bar to look away from Wufei. He listened quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"Anyhow, David flipped out on her right there. He put her in her place when no one else would. She didn't show her face for almost a month. The whole town knew what she said, though it didn't take long before they forgot about it and let her go back to her usual antics. I didn't forget, and she didn't either. Except, in her version, I'm the one that embarrassed her, not David. Maybe it's just 'cause he died a year ago and she can't blame him anymore. She stopped coming around here after that, Marty said she wasn't welcome." She pulled the remote from her pocket and turned off the stereo for the night.

"You and David were… involved?"

She smiled and shook her head, "no, no. Nothing like that. I think… he just pitied me. I don't know how he stumbled across me, but he dropped everything he was doing to get me to the US and find me a place where I could recover. I was… too afraid of people to 'be involved' with anyone."

Wufei handed her their empty bottles and she dumped the little bits of liquid and foam into the sink, tossing the bottles in the restaurant's recycling bin. "Do you have much longer in here?"

"Told you, you should have left like half hour ago. You must be bored out of your mind. I still have to count those boxes and then put them away. If you don't interrupt my counting, I'm sure I can be done soon. Most of the stuff in the back was still in unopened boxes—I didn't have to open those to count them. Took half the normal time, thankfully."

Phe moved around the bar to the tables, grabbing a small notebook as she went, and started pulling the tee shirts from their box. Wufei watched her for a few moments before turning towards the window. He stood still, with his arms behind his back, and waited patiently. With the music off, the restaurant was still enough that he could hear the floor boards creak every time the woman shifted her weight.

It was an old building, but it had been well maintained. He imagined that a more sentimental person would say that it had personality. Just about everything was wood—there were thick beams that held arches, which were more for decoration than functionality. In a few random areas, hooks jutted out. Those had probably been used at one point or another for coat and hat racks, back when wearing and hanging hats were common practices.

There was a soft thud as Phe dropped the now completed box to the ground.

Even when there wasn't food cooking in the back, there was a certain flavor to the place. It was a musk that he attributed to years of weathering to the wooden building, both inside and out.

There weren't places like this in the colonies.

He had contemplated heading back to space, maybe working on the terraforming project. Maybe after everything he had seen and been through (especially with the CSO rebellion), staying a bit removed from technology was a good thing.

After a few more moments, Phe sighed loudly behind him.

"Alright, all done. Unfortunately, it does look like some of our promo glasses are gone. I'll have to talk to Marty and see if he gave any out without marking them down. I'll run these to the back and we can go." Wufei watched as she wrapped her arms around the box—filled with glassware—and started carting it back.

He thought about offering to carry it, but she certainly didn't seem to have any problem with doing it on her own. When she made her third trip, with the last box, he separated the tables and reset the chairs around them.

She thanked him and went to the large, glass, double doors along the back wall. After checking the locks again and adjusting one of the blinds, she turned and smiled at him.

"I'm done, I'm done, I promise."

Before they could lock the front door behind them, Phe haphazardly threw Louie the Skeleton inside on one of the booths to deal with in the morning.

"I don't understand the importance of Louie," Wufei said dryly as they started down Main Street together. It was in the opposite direction of his little guest house, but he wasn't particularly concerned for his own wellbeing.

If any kids tried to throw eggs at him, they would sorely regret it.

"Louie was Marty's gift to David when he was a kid. David apparently insisted that he would grow up to be a doctor, and he wanted one that… I think they go in classrooms? I don't remember ever seeing one myself, obviously, but that's a thing, right? Skeletons in classrooms?" Phe asked, burying her hands in her jacket pockets. The goodie bag hung from her wrist, occasionally hitting off her thigh as they walked.

Wufei hummed, but said nothing else. They turned down a street on the left, which had a gradual incline. Two houses were on either side of the street, but as they walked up, the houses were spaced a bit further apart.

"Well, anyways, since he really wanted one, Marty found a full sized plastic one, put a hole in the skull, and hung it by a string from David's playroom ceiling. He screamed bloody murder, I guess, when he saw it in the dark the night he came home, but loved it anyhow… You know, I feel like I talk your ear off. I don't know why you put up with it," Phe laughed, though he thought it seemed a bit forced.

"It doesn't bother me," he replied and she sighed.

"If you say so…"

"What happened to David?" He hadn't found record of Marty having a son, though he admittedly didn't look too hard. He hadn't found any noticeable threats so he didn't bother digging into all of the citizens. Maybe he should have.

Phe shrugged and fell silent, kicking a rock along the pavement.

Jasper's Cove was along the coast of their little island, with not much separating them from the water. On the other side, forest threatened to enter and reclaim the areas that had been turned into residential property. After they passed three more houses, and started to leave the town behind, the trees started becoming thicker. He wondered if she lived in the middle of the woods, alone.

"The Rapture got him," she said after their silence continued for a few minutes.

Wufei felt that it surely explained a lot. He wouldn't be surprised if very few people knew about Phe's neurochips, since it would have put her in danger. She had probably figured it out on her own and kept it to herself after her doctor-friend died. He had probably been working on rehabilitating some of the other Gen Two's—Wufei may have even met him at one point or another.

"You spell 'Pheona' very oddly," he said, changing the subject for her. He hadn't yet determined if she was the emotional sorts, but he had no desire to deal with a weepy woman. It was best to move on to a less sensitive subject.

"Yeah," she replied, drawing the word out, "that's because I was called 'Phe' before I was called Pheona. David didn't know what to call me, so he started calling me Phe for Phoenix—with my burns and all… I know he meant well, but, it really just reminded me that I was damaged. So, now that I've gone through all of the refugee paperwork, I've picked my own name. I couldn't really escape 'Phe' though since everyone had already called me that for a good year."

Her house was on the right of the street. There was a street light at the gravel driveway, but it was rather dark until her front porch which had two lights on either side of the door. The house was rather large—he couldn't imagine that she owned it.

"Did you choose your last name as well?" He asked as they started along the gravel, crunching as they walked.

"Marty doesn't have any other family, so he asked if I would become a Mager. He can't technically adopt me, so I'm not his legal kin or anything, but as far as he's concerned, I'm family. Unless someone proves otherwise, I'm Pheona Mager. Not nearly as interesting as Wufei Chang," she replied and laughed.

He hardly heard his name from her—names… they're rarely spoken, when one stops to think about it. They're used to get someone's attention, but they aren't usually just said in conversation. It was odd hearing it from her. Most others in the town called him Chang, and he preferred it that way.

"Well, thank you for walking me home. I told you, everything's fine," Phe said and walked up the four steps to the top of her porch. She put her hands on her hips and looked around. "Damnit! They stole my cauldron! I knew I shouldn't have left candy out for those brats…"

Wufei stayed at the bottom and smiled slightly, but only for a moment.

She started to put her keys into her door. "You know," she said with her back turned to him, "I'm not exactly a busy person myself. Working at the restaurant is about all I do. If you want, we can try to line something up when we both aren't working. I only know the island and a bit of mainland around the ferry station, but I don't mind showing you around a bit. If you want."

He watched her with a raised brow. Phe seemed to be taking her time opening her door. Was she trying to draw out their conversation?

"It would be helpful to know the area before the winter," he replied. She laughed and sighed, though it seemed mostly to herself.

Was that the wrong answer? It was an honest one. If he were to be isolated on the island during ice and snow, it wouldn't do to have him get lost.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess that's true. Well, you know where to find me if you want to line something up. G'night."

She turned and waved at him from her door. He waved back and she shut it.

The feeling in his stomach still had not gone away. He walked carefully so that he could still hear over the crunching of gravel. He couldn't explain why, but he was sure that something else was going to happen.

Just as he exited the area lit by the porch lights, he heard movement to his right. His head snapped over and he scanned the area. There were numerous low bushes and tall, thick trees. Her front yard wasn't particularly dense, but it was enough that someone could have been hiding in it—hiding while waiting for her to come home.

He took a step towards the trees, and then another. It seemed that he spooked whatever it was in the trees, because the movement picked up, heading away from him. Wufei glanced over at the house and saw that Phe wasn't watching him leave. Taking his chances, he entered the underbrush and into the darkness of the woods.

Though it was nearly pitch black, it hardly bothered him. Nothing compared to the darkness of space, after all.

Once he was in a good few yards, he stopped and listened again. He could hear breathing, but it was oddly muffled, like whatever it was had something over its face. Wufei felt certain it wasn't an animal. And seconds later, that was confirmed when a figured emerged from behind a particularly wide tree and ran at him.

It took nearly no effort for Wufei to duck down and swing the man over his back, throwing him to the ground roughly. It took him a moment to adjust to the darkness, but once he could see well enough, he realized that the man he had pinned was wearing a mask. It was a rubber-latex mask from a Halloween store—Wufei vaguely recognized the character as some horror villain known for his claw like hands and horrible burns.

He reached down and jerked the mask off of the man's head.

Wufei had seen him before. He was one of the men who were constantly hanging off of Lea. "What, exactly, were you planning on doing? Trespassing on a woman's lawn in the middle of the night?"

"Dude, chill out," the man groaned, trying to roll on his side. "It's Halloween man, we're just having some fun."

"We? Who's out here with you?" Wufei snapped, but the man didn't answer. He just groaned some more and then started whining about his phone being broken. Wufei stood and looked around. He only managed to make it a few steps before someone jumped from his side and tried to swing a tree branch at him

They were wearing a similar mask, and had horrible aim. He caught the branch with one hand and pulled it forward. The would-be attacker jerked forward, and Wufei grabbed him by the collar, shoving him against the nearest tree. He pulled the mask off as well. Another one of the Lea-lackeys.

"Is there anyone else with you?" He asked and roughly pulled the man from the tree and pushed him back again.

This guy was bigger than the other, and once his mask was off, and he could see, he decided to try to fight.

He broke Wufei's grip from his collar and wound up to try to throw a punch, but Wufei caught his wrist and twisted it backwards. In moments, the man was on his knees, begging for his arm to be let go. If he wanted, Wufei would have broken his wrist—and probably his arm as well. But he hardly wanted people thinking he assaulted someone.

"Damn, c'mon man, let me go," the second attacker begged, "it was just the two of us. We weren't gonna hurt her, just scare her a little bit! It's Halloween!"

"Halloween? You use that as your excuse to torment and harass someone? I didn't realize such filth lived in this town," Wufei snarled, putting more pressure on his hold. The man gave a cry and he pushed himself further towards the ground, trying to shift his arm into a better position. "I could snap you in half, and it would be completely justified."

He let go and shoved the man into the dirt and leaves, resisting the urge to try to make the man get up and fight. His opponent was already down. To keep fighting him would hardly be honorable.

The man scrambled to his feet. He moved to stand next to his friend, both looking at each other and then Wufei, wondering if they would continue to fight.

"You're hardly a challenge," Wufei said, venom dripping from his words. "I suggest you go far away from here. If I hear someone's bothering Phe, I promise you will regret it. I suggest you let any other friends know this as well."

"Y—you don't even know who we are! You can't do anything to us!" It was the first attacker who spoke. Was he drunk? Wufei suspected so.

"I know your faces and that's all I need to get information on you," he replied and took a step forward. The men quickly took a step back. They stared one another down for a bit before the two inebriated and now injured men took off.

Phe's lights went off in the distance, and from the woods, he could see her walking about her first floor. Wufei waited just long enough to make sure that there was no one else planning on doing something stupid and then walked off back towards the town.

When he was back in his guesthouse, he tossed off his jacket and sat down at his small table to boot up his laptop. As he said, all he needed were the men's faces. He was already keeping a running dossier on most of the town's residents—just in case, of course. Perhaps it was just a habit from spending two years tracking down Gen Two's.

Mike Murray and Cory Putchko were the men's names. He had to scroll through a few pages of residence records before he found them, but he found them. Based on the their social media pages, Mike's older brother Joe was in an on again, off again relationship with Lea. Wufei wouldn't have been surprised if those two had put the men up to the task of terrorizing Phe.

Over the course of the next week, he contemplated telling Phe what had happened. Ultimately, he did not. She seemed like the type to tell him that she didn't need someone to fight her battles for her. If it were up to him, he would stop the battles before they got to her.

000

Author's Notes: Thank you Lavenderfiction for your review! It is wonderful to know that there is, in fact, someone out there reading!

I forgot to thank a few very important people in the last chapter: my wonderful beta readers. I've had a few, primarily because some lost interest or disappeared… Or I disappeared and they weren't willing to come back! I can't blame them for not wanting to work with an author who goes missing for a few months! But, regardless, I am going to thank them all anyhow, starting with Jhotenko, who has stuck it out the longest with me! Couldn't have managed to get as far as I have without him! Sylvaniae also reviewed quite a bit for me! There are a few others who did some reviewing, but I have to search out their names because it's been a while…

Thank you for reading!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	3. Chapter 3

After Colony: Rebirth

000

The nice weather they had enjoyed on Halloween didn't last long. By the middle of November, it was snowing almost daily. Sometimes it was only a light flurry, sometimes it was a blizzard. Though there was one plow and one salt truck on the island, he had yet to see it utilized. Each time there was a heavy snow fall, the townspeople seemed content to walk from place to place and let the wind blow in the ocean's salt water to melt what covered the main roads.

His little guest house was near enough to the water that the snow quickly turned to slush. Phe, on the other hand, was not as lucky.

Wufei was walking back from the grocery store with his bare necessities when he saw her angrily muttering to herself and hunching over to retrieve items from the snow. He approached her with a raised brow and stopped just a few feet away. She hadn't seemed to notice him, and continued about her muttering as she threw some potatoes into her reusable tote bag. It was already nearly filled to the brim and putting strain on its thin handles.

When she stood, Phe visibly jumped at the sight of him, knocking some of the vegetables from her bag again. She groaned and stood with her shoulders slumped and her head thrown back to look at the sky.

"Bad day?" Wufei dared to ask, though he suspected he may have been better off just giving her a wave and letting her be on her way.

"You have no idea."

She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair looked particularly windblown. Wufei didn't comment on her appearance as he bent down and picked up the potatoes that had once again fallen. He was about to reach over and put them in her bag, but he realized that there was just literally no room. Behind her was a crumbled, blue plastic bag sticking out of the snow.

"Give me some of your groceries. I have room in my bag. I'll carry them up to your house," he said and opened his plastic bag.

She looked at him directly for a moment, and perhaps she thought about declining. Instead, she complied. As she did, he noticed that her eyes looked duller than normal. The shine he was getting used to didn't seem to quite show through. She reached into her bag and pulled out four more potatoes and a head of lettuce that seemed to be taking up the most room. "Thanks."

Wufei started up the hill first, prompting her to follow. He could see where it looked like she had started to walk before slipping. He deduced that she had caught herself, broken her bag, and lost her groceries.

"This hill is pretty bad in the winter, isn't it?" He asked, testing to see if he could spark a conversation.

Phe nodded slowly and sighed. "That's why Marty doesn't live here anymore. Bad knees. His girlfriend has a duplex off of Main Street. It's easier on him."

Wufei already knew to expect winter for essentially the next six months, so he understood why someone wouldn't be keen on trekking up the hill on a daily basis. Marty wasn't exactly old, but he was no spring chicken either.

As they moved up the incline, Wufei saw that Phe stumbled two more times. She recovered quickly and said nothing of it. She didn't look at him when she did stumble and he had to wonder if this was a normal occurrence for her. They walked in silence until they reached her door. When they did, she pulled out her keys, complete with a plastic dolphin chain, and tried to open her door.

It was as if she couldn't quite make her hands move the way she wanted. She put the key into the lock and tried to turn, but she couldn't put enough force behind it to undo the lock. He tried to watch subtly, but he was sure she knew he was staring. She groaned and leaned forward, letting her head thunk lightly against the door.

Wufei reached out and put his hand over hers, unlocking the door.

He opened it and took the heavy tote bag from her hand. Without her invitation, he stepped in and walked straight down the hallway to the kitchen—he could see the counters from the doorway. Once he had set her things on the island, he walked back. She was just sort of watching him, a bit of confusion on her face. She opened her mouth to speak and raised a hand, but no words came out and her hand didn't make it to the door frame.

She froze. She just sort of… froze.

The life had left her eyes in an instant.

Wufei watched as her body swayed slightly and started to fall forward. He crossed the distance in an instant and caught her before she could hit the ground. Her body was rigid and she shook slightly. It was just like before—like the instances in the past when her neurochip failed.

Though he wasn't keen on moving her, he couldn't leave her in the doorway. Wufei carefully picked her up and maneuvered her into the living room to the left of the door. There was a large, blue couch with a blanket crumpled at the end. He set her down before going to shut and lock the door.

Wufei unbuttoned his jacket and threw it to the side. For a few moments, he stood over her, a hand in his hair and he tried to figure out what to do. Should he call Quatre? If he called, they could probably have Isabella there by the morning. But then again, if he called, all of the others would be alerted to her presence and he didn't know if bringing everyone else back into her life was a good idea.

It would raise a lot of questions from the townspeople, after all. She could be ostracized and forced out. She seemed happy there, and he didn't want to ruin that for her.

He knelt down and patted around her grey peacoat for her cell phone. He pulled it out and was grateful to find that it wasn't code protected. Wufei clicked through to find her recent calls. She hadn't had many, and most were to and from Marty—which is exactly who Wufei wanted.

The phone buzzed until the older man answered.

"What's up, Phe?"

"Marty," Wufei started, "it's Chang. I'm—"

"What's going on? Why do you have Phe's phone? Where is she?"

He clenched his jaw and held back snapping at the man. "I am at her house. Something's… wrong. I helped her with her groceries. She had a hard time getting up the hill and couldn't unlock her door. She froze and then collapsed. I caught her, so she wasn't injured. But… is this normal?"

There was a loud exhale on the other line. "Yeah… I'll come over and sit with her. Lucky she wasn't alone this time."

"No, you shouldn't come. She said you have difficulty with the hill. It's very slick, you may only cause yourself injury."

"Well she's got no one else and it's best that someone's there when she eventually wakes up. She gets disoriented and confused. She can hurt herself or run off—and trying to track her down in the snow would be worse than me having a stumble or two."

Wufei squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his brow. "I'll… I'll stay. I'm already here, and I didn't exactly have plans anyhow." The words came out before he really gave it some thought. With the silence that followed, he really should have given it another moment. Marty hardly knew him and was obviously protective of Phe. Wufei was sure that the idea of a strange man in her house while she was unconscious was hardly appealing.

"If anything happens to her…"

"I promise you, I am merely concerned for her. I have no ill intentions," Wufei replied dryly.

"Well alright… But if I can get a ride up there, I'm going to stop by. And call me if anything changes. If it's a normal freeze, she'll be okay in an hour or so. If it goes on longer than two, it'll be all night."

"Understood."

There was a grumble on the other end of the line and then the phone disconnected.

Wufei placed the phone on the table at the end of the couch and then stared at Phe. Just as he was accepting that Edan was gone, she started to show through again. Unfortunately, it was in the worst possible way. He shook his head and sighed before reaching down to unlace Phe's snow boots. Once he had them sitting by the front door, he kicked his own off to keep from tracking more water through the house. It took him a few more minutes of debating before he set to trying to get her jacket off. It took some work, since she was so stiff, but he managed.

He contemplated hanging her jacket in a closet, but he saw that there was a pile of hoodies on an unused reclining chair. He opted to add to that pile instead.

When he caught sight of the groceries he had carried in, he figured he might as well put everything away. His own groceries needed refrigerated anyhow, and he didn't want them to spoil.

Wufei quickly realized that Phe had the same problem he had: things went bad before he could finish them off. Her fridge was filled with containers of old food that needed to be tossed—most were in sealed Tupperware containers, so it wasn't as if there was moldy food just sitting out on a shelf. Unlike him, however, she seemed to have an aversion to cleaning.

Besides her fridge, for the most part, Phe wasn't really dirty or anything. Just messy or cluttered.

So he put her groceries away. And then he loaded her dishwasher. And then he filled her recyclables bag. Before he knew it, he had swept her kitchen floor and wiped down her counters. He moved into the living room where he covered Phe with a blanket before folding the others that were strewn across the room. He put DVDs back in their proper cases and then placed them on the shelves which housed the rest of the entertainment collection. He stacked books and magazines, and threw away a pile of dark chocolate candy wrappers.

When he ran out of things to keep himself busy, he wondered if the rest of the house was in the same state—but that would require snooping, which he wasn't going to do. He flopped down in the recliner, after folding Phe's hoodies and setting them to the side and stared at his handiwork.

And then he frowned.

What in God's name compelled him to do something so domestic? Sure, he found himself a bit annoyed that the woman wasn't a neat freak like him but…. He wasn't even mad. He should have been. He should have left everything exactly how it was, and then given her his critique when she awoke. He should have told her that at the very least, she should have been capable of cleaning up after herself.

But he didn't. Instead, he was mildly interested in learning a few random details about her.

He had learned that she didn't seem to keep alcohol in her house, besides a wine rack at the side of the kitchen. It was completely filled, but with a layer of dust over the bottles. Wufei would guess that it was actually Marty's collection, and not hers. Her favorite snack looked to be chips and salsa, based on the number of empty glass containers he tossed. She had a fancy spice rack which spun around on two tiers. She had everything that they carried in the store, and most of them were half used.

Phe also had a few books on memory loss, which had been discreetly left under a newspaper. Wufei hadn't realized that it was probably something she tried to keep out of sight until after he had already started moving them to her bookshelf. A few clippings from the local paper and print offs from the web slipped out of the books.

They were news reports regarding the CSO soldiers that had been captured just after Moira's death. Most were about their detainment and some were about executions that happened in South America with references to the Rio De Janeiro attack. She also had a few reports of the attack in Stuttgart, which, he assumed, was because she thought that she had been brought in from Germany.

Wufei read over them before shoving them back inside the books. He had already moved them, and he would rather admit to his accidental discovery than try to hide the fact that he had got into something he shouldn't have.

He was quietly sitting on his phone, scrolling through news sites (and unfortunately reading about another attack on Gen Twos that happened in Kansas,) when Phe finally started to show signs of change. He could hear, in the silence of the room, as her breathing started picking up. Wufei looked up at sat at the edge of his chair, watching as her fists opened and shut, grasping the throw blanket tightly. Finally, it was like a jolt shot through her body, causing her back to arch. She writhed around and slipped off the couch. Phe landed on the wooden floor, face down but blinking, and immediately started crawling forward.

Wufei jumped up and moved to her side. He reached down to try to help her sit up, but as soon as he leaned over, her arm shot back and she elbowed him in the stomach. Of course, he certainly hadn't been expecting her to hit him, so he hunched over and groaned. As soon as he recovered, he quickly grabbed her under her arms and hoisted her up. She flailed a bit in his grasp and he readjusted so that he could wrap his arms around her tightly, pressing her back against his chest.

"You're fine," he said slowly, "you're at home, in your living room. Just calm down. You're stronger than this."

She struggled a bit more against him, but then she stopped and her breathing steadied. Wufei loosened his hold on her and carefully guided her back to her couch. When she sat, she leaned forward and put her head into her hands, covering her face from him. There was a heavy tension in the room, not unlike when facing a caged animal. Looking at her, Wufei could see that Phe's body was stiff and tense. Her muscles spasmed under her skin and her fingers dug into her scalp. He did not push her into talking. He stood just a few feet away until she finally sat back and looked up at him.

"Why are you here?"

He doubted she meant to come off as sharp as she did. It was more likely ill displayed confusion.

"After I dropped off your groceries, you collapsed. I called Marty from your phone. He said someone needed to stay with you," he replied.

She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows. Ah, there was the confusion.

"But why are you here?"

Wufei shrugged. "Someone needed to stay with you, that's just what he said. I was already here. It seemed ridiculous to make Marty come out in the snow. I… apologize if I should have encouraged him to come instead."

Phe stared at him for another moment or so before shaking her head. "No…. no that's fine. I just… If I'm not alone, it's only ever him. I've never had someone else looking after me."

Wufei backed up and sat down in the recliner once more, his hands on either arm rest. "You've mentioned before about your 'bad days.' Is this what you mean?"

"Yeah," she said quietly and looked away from him. She stared at her TV stand, which was now clear of all DVD cases, and raised a brow. "Sometimes I can feel it coming on. My body doesn't cooperate. It doesn't do what I tell it. Sometimes, I'll be in the middle of doing something and it will come on out of nowhere. Usually that only happens if I start trying to remember… Did you clean my house?"

And that was it. That was all he was going to get out of her, at least for now. She had changed the subject. "I didn't know how long I would be here. I had to find something to entertain myself."

"So you cleaned my house."

"Only this room and the kitchen."

She leaned over to the side and looked into the kitchen. She cracked a smile and laughed, loudly. "Wow, if a magic fairy came in and cleaned for me each time I had one of my fits, I think I would enjoy them much more…"

"Magic fairy?" He wasn't sure if he should be offended by the name.

"Well, you're obviously not human. You're far too perfect. I've seen your shopping cart, so I know you cook. So you cook, you clean, you're a gentleman and a apparently a caregiver. Add the fact that you're well-traveled, obviously intelligent, and pretty cute too—you just aren't human," she said and crossed her arms with a sense of finality.

Wufei stared at her. All sense of confusion was gone, and so quickly that it threw him for a loop. "I can't tell if you're joking, being sarcastic, or flirting with me?" It was his turn to be confused.

She shrugged, "well none of those. I'm merely stating that you're a magic fairy."

"Aren't all fairies magic anyhow? That's redundant."

"Ah, but you aren't denying it. Well, that explains a lot," Phe said and stood. She swayed a bit, but stretched and steadied herself.

He furrowed his brows. "What? No. That explains nothing, because it isn't true."

Phe shrugged but didn't respond. She walked into the kitchen and flicked on another light. She whistled as she looked around, her hands on her hips. He followed in behind her. "Wow, this place pretty much sparkles. Please, feel free to come clean my house any time you like. Next time, I'll send you up to the bedroom."

His frown deepened. Again, he couldn't tell if she was joking.

"Seriously though. It's pretty bad. I have an issue putting clothes away, apparently."

As she inspected her kitchen, Wufei could hear her stomach growl rather loudly. A blush creeped up the back of her neck and reached her cheeks. He stared at her and raised a brow.

"I went to the store to get stuff for dinner and Thanksgiving next week. Give me a break," she said and perhaps pouted a bit. She seemed legitimately embarrassed by the loud noise.

"I didn't say anything. I'll let you get on with your night, then. Remember to give Marty a call. He wanted to make sure you wouldn't need someone to stay with you all night," Wufei replied. He stepped to her fridge and pulled out his groceries.

Phe watched up and as he closed the door, she stepped forward. "If you want, I don't mind having company for dinner. I don't normally get to cook for two."

Wufei paused for a moment before turning back to face her. Being there when she woke up had already been a mistake, and he knew it before that moment. He hadn't entirely figured out why he was staying in the little town of Jasper's Cove, and he couldn't be sure he would stay for much longer. After everything she had been through, it was wrong of him to build a friendship with her when he knew he may just leave her life again. So, he really should just say no and watch her from afar.

But he didn't. What he said was, "I have some business to take care of tonight. Maybe another time."

He really did have business. He wanted to call Quatre to tell him that Phe was having Edan-like attacks, and that help may be needed—quietly, of course. And he really did mean 'another time,' because indirectness was not something he was known for.

But Wufei could immediately tell that Phe had not taken it that way. She took it as rejection. She smiled and laughed, but the discomfort in her eyes was evident.

"Of course. I think I probably took up way too much of your time anyhow. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it. Not sure if I've ever recovered so quickly from one of my fits. If you could just… not tell anyone though…"

"I won't say anything. It's your business and no one else's," he replied and stepped around the island to grab his coat from one of the kitchen chairs.

"Right. Well, thanks again."

Over the next few days, he continued in his routine. During the work week, he would head to Marty's for lunch. Though his usual lunch was still prepared, Phe didn't sit with him when he came in. She gave him a smile and made a few pleasantries, but she was quick to find something else to focus her attention on.

It was Wednesday when he finally had a chance to catch Marty on his own. Phe wasn't working and the restaurant was empty when he entered. A lot of locals left to go see family in more active parts of the country, so there weren't many patrons to be had. When he entered, he found that Marty had boxes out and was counting inventory, much like Phe had done on Halloween.

"'Afternoon," Marty said with a wave as he continued his counting. Wufei took his usual seat and waited patiently for the man to finish. When he did, he threw his clip board on top of the boxes and turned to face Wufei. "You want that usual that Phe makes you?"

"That's fine."

Once Marty walked to the back, Wufei reached over the bar and grabbed the remote to turn up the news. A snow storm was coming. It was likely that the ferry wouldn't be running. He was glad he had stocked up on food and water the day before, though most of the grocery store had been picked over. The shipments were fewer in the winter, but the locals seemed to know that and prepared for it in the fall.

When his food finally came out, Marty dropped it off but didn't walk away. Wufei took the moment to speak with the man.

"Marty," Wufei said casually, picking around at his food, "how often do Phe's attacks happen?"

The man eyed him cautiously before answering. "Depends. The ones she can try to prepare for are maybe once or twice a month. Not too often. Can't say for the other ones. Best my son could figure, if she's put into a situation familiar to her, her mind tries to remember, and it's just too much. We never know when it'll happen. Those tend to be the worst."

Wufei nodded and took a few bites of his lunch. Marty turned and started placing wine glasses into their rack, but he was still close by.

"Has she ever been seriously hurt? You said she's run off before. It seems like having her live on her own is unwise."

Marty put his last glass on perhaps a bit hastily and then turned to Wufei, a frown firmly in place. He leaned forward and placed his hands on the bar, taking up as much space as possible. Maybe he was trying to be intimidating. Wufei couldn't tell.

"Look, pal, I'm thankful that you were in the right place, at the right time last week. I'm thankful that you even handled everything well, though maybe snooping through her things was a bit unwise. But you know, I decided to ask around about you. McGlennen and I play cards, and he had a few things to say about you. Said he thinks you're a soldier, one from the rebellion," Marty said, his hands balling into fists.

Carefully setting his fork down, Wufei sat up and made himself level with Marty's eyes. "I believe what I told Killian McGlennen was that I prefer to keep my past to myself. He assumed I was a soldier with the rebellion."

"So you're saying if I call some of my own contacts, no one will have heard of you."

"That would be very likely," Wufei replied. He didn't think the man would do anything beyond try to intimidate him, but he prepared himself to jump from his stool if need be.

Most soldiers wouldn't have known his name. The gundam pilots did a very good job at keeping their identities a secret. Sure, some people he had worked with would know him, but most would know to keep their mouths shut. He doubted that Marty, who had only served a short time in the military, would have any contacts who would know him.

"Right… You understand my concern, don't you?" Marty asked. "The group calling themselves the Rapture—a lot of people think that they're ex-rebels. Rebels who are angry that some CSO soldiers got away unpunished. If someone like that were to show up in our town…"

Immediately, Wufei eased up. He sat back down and resumed his lunch. "If someone shows up claiming to be part of the Rapture, I advise you to call the authorities. I'm an ex-soldier, but I'm just looking for some roots. Not out to hurt anyone."

To think that someone would think he was part of that organization… That was the biggest insult he had received since coming to the small town.

Marty watched him for a bit longer before backing up to lean against the other side of the counter. "Well… good. We don't mind having newcomers—they're rare in these parts, but it helps mix things up. We just want to protect our own, that's all."

"That's reasonable. I prefer peace and quiet myself. That's why I haven't made an effort to integrate with the rest of the locals. I don't want people knocking on my door. I just want to be left alone."

The other man raised his hands in concession. "Fine, fine. I don't think many people know what McGlennen said. We were wrappin' up when I asked him. Your secret is safe—as long as you keep Phe's to yourself."

"I already told her she had nothing to worry about. If she chooses not to tell anyone, then it's hardly my place to interfere," he said and then gulped down his Iced-Tea.

"Yeah, well, you have her worried, you know."

"Why?" Wufei asked. The words came out in a tone of disgust, but mostly because he couldn't figure a reason why she would think he would talk.

"Said you found some stuff she didn't want anyone to see. Some of the stuff she put together to try to figure out who she is—or was, at least," Marty replied and crossed his arms.

Wufei fought the urge to roll his eyes. She should have just talked to him. "I did not mean to find anything. They fell out of some books. Whatever her past may have been, she should not be punished for anything she doesn't even remember—if there is anything damning to be remembered."

Initially, Marty did not respond. He stared at Wufei, perhaps as if to gauge Wufei's truthfulness. As much as he tried to ignore the eyes baring holes into him, his growing annoyance caused Wufei to look up, just as it seemed Marty had a revelation. The man's eyes widened and lit up, as if he had just put a puzzle together. Honestly, that look made Wufei far more uncomfortable than Marty's intimidation attempts.

"You know, for some reason I actually believe you," Marty replied and cracked a smile. "I may not be a learned-man, but I can be a pretty good judge of character. I'll let you off the hook for now, but if anything happens to my girl, you better believe you're the first one I'm coming after."

"Feel free," Wufei muttered and wiped his hands on his napkin. He crumpled it up and tossed it onto the counter before going for his wallet. He found he didn't have much of an appetite. He pulled out a few bills and dropped them on the bar before turning to head for the door, without his change.

"Aw, hold on kid," Marty shouted, sounding a bit remorseful. Wufei sighed lowly and stopped, looking over his shoulder at the older man. "You got somewhere to go tomorrow? Nothin's gonna be opened."

"I'll manage." Placing his hand on the doorknob, he turned it and opened the door, setting off the little brass bell above him.

"What I mean to say is—if you don't got any plans, you should stop by Marcy's place. She's three doors down from Connie's bookshop. She's got the blue door. We'll be startin' around one. Phe's making the sweet potatoes. Anyhow, you should come."

Wufei didn't respond. He stood for just a moment longer, watching Marty with some interest, and letting a bit of snow blow in from outside. Finally, he stepped out without a single word.

McGlennen's Repair closed up early that day, leaving Wufei with extra time on his hands. He seemed to have a lot of time on his hands, recently. He contemplated taking up a hobby. However, the thought was quickly pushed to the back of his mind. Hobbies were wastes. He should have been doing something productive—but it was hard to be productive when he didn't exactly have any goals.

If this was what retirement felt like, then he didn't think he would ever retire.

Then again, for a good decade of his life, he didn't think retirement was an option. He simply assumed he would die on the battlefield.

Wufei shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched up against the cold. He wasn't too far from his little guesthouse, but his trek had been made more difficult by the sudden accumulation of snow. The ferry would be arriving in just two hours. He had time to pack up and leave, if he felt like it. And days like today, he did feel like it.

Sometimes, he felt like he would wake up one day to find that Jasper's Cove was just a dream. Maybe he was in a coma—maybe he would wake up and the fight against CSO wouldn't be over. He could be suffering from nearly drowning in the North Sea from the night that deBordaris threw him over Swifttrillion. Or maybe everything was a side effect from the tests that CSO had been conducting, and his comrades never actually managed to rescue him from CSO's clutches.

In some ways, those thoughts were preferable. If they had been true, then maybe he would have had a chance to save a lot of people from a lot of anguish.

Wufei sighed, his puff of breath visible in the chilly air.

He wasn't delusional. He knew this was his reality, for better or for worse. So by the time he pushed the Tranquil Inn's front gate, Wufei had already resolved to call Quatre and ask for reassignment.

000

Author's Notes: and once again I find myself thanking Lavenderfiction! I had meant to update this earlier, I really did… Things just got the better of me and I did not! So, thank you for staying on top of things and getting me to post!

Also, thank you to lilxin! Thank you so much for your kind review, I hope you're sticking with me! I know you said you were planning on going back to read After Colony: Revelation, but again, I just warn you (and everyone else) it does get off to a rocky start because I started it so long ago!

Thank you everyone for reading!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	4. Chapter 4

After Colony: Rebirth

000

Wufei found himself knocking on the blue door to Marcy Kelly's duplex with some regret. He could hear music and laughter through the door, and he felt fully unprepared for whatever lay beyond the threshold.

He had called Quatre to ask for reinstatement as he planned, but he had only been able to reach the other Gundam pilot's voicemail. It wasn't particularly alarming since they faced such a large time-zone gap at any given time. However, since he had yet to receive a call back, there was a slight growing concern in the pit of his stomach. He pushed it aside as paranoia. Surely he would have heard if something major had occurred?

Well, it wasn't as if he would receive a phone call from anyone else, so maybe that wasn't true. Only Une would have likely been able to find a way to reach him, since he wasn't exactly listen in the Preventers' employee database. Trowa too, maybe, if he had discreetly taken Wufei's number off of Quatre's cellphone.

Duo had been officially blacklisted from the Preventers because of his mental state after CSO's fall, and Wufei had refused to speak a word to Heero since their escape from Adelphie's Manor. Maybe he should reach out to Heero and try to make amends…

No.

Absolutely not.

Wufei may have been able to track down Edan, or the shell of her at least, in the end, but that didn't excuse the fact that Heero had left her for dead in the first place. Clearly she had not been, as Heero assured him she was. Therefore, his pride insisted that Heero be the one to reach out and say that he was wrong.

Although, admittedly, Heero couldn't exactly do that when he didn't know that Phe existed.

He sighed and thought about turning around. Maybe he got lucky and they didn't hear him knock—

The door creaked as it was pulled open, spilling the sound of festivities into the afternoon air.

"Well hello there!"

Standing before him was a woman who looked to be in perhaps her late forties or early fifties—a few years younger than Marty, at least. She was a petite woman with shoulder length, frizzy, graying, brown hair. Despite that, she seemed to take up the entire doorway. She stood tall, with a confident smile and a hand on her hip.

"You must be Chang! Or is it Wufei? Marty and Phe seem to call you different things." The woman stepped to the side, opening the door wider to give Wufei room to enter. "Well don't just stand there, hun, it's cold out! I'm Marcy, by the way."

Wufei gave the woman a polite nod of his head before stepping into the house and a few steps into the hallway. There were shoes littering the floor, so he properly followed suit to undo his own as Marcy shut the door.

Through the entrance, there were steps that led upstairs to another door as well as a door that was propped open just ahead of him. That was where the sounds he could hear from outside were coming from. He remembered Phe mentioning that Marty lived in a duplex, and that did appear to be the case.

Marcy waited for him to finish before walking him into the lower section of the house. She kept the door open despite the fact that the hallway was chilly. It was probably needed because of how warm the rest of the floor was—he unconsciously pulled at the collar of his sweater because of the sudden blast of heat he was hit with.

There were highlights of the big Thanksgiving Parade that took place in New York running on the old television to his left. A little black and white dog sat atop the couch, directly in front of the screen, barking at Wufei as he entered into the room. "Ignore Dolly," Marcy said, shushing the dog. "She gets worked up whenever someone comes in or out of the door. She's old and harmless. Won't even get off the couch because she knows she can't get back on it!"

Wufei raised a brow as the annoying pup growled at him. He almost found it humorous that the woman thought she had to tell him that the dog was harmless. There was a large table set up to his right, extended as far as it would go with a tablecloth that didn't quite reach the ends. Outdated, but probably expensive, china lined the place settings, which were set for six people. He wondered if he was one of them, or if they would have to make space for him.

Marcy led him into a large kitchen, where Phe and Marty were working to pull out a large turkey from the oven.

"Phe, lift your side higher! You're spilling the juices!"

"No-lift your side higher! You're spilling the juices!"

"No—you lower your side! You're going to hit the top of the oven! You're going to get nasty grime all over the turkey!"

The two squabbled as they went. Marty looked over and gave him a nod, but Phe's back was to him as she leaned over the oven door. He could see a thin line of flesh between the bottom of her shirt and the top of her jeans. It was uneven and discolored from the harsh burns that had scarred her.

Finally, they managed to get the cooked bird raised and onto the stove top with a loud sigh. Phe tore off her oven mitts, and threw them onto the counter. "Alright. I'm done. I do enough waiting on people every other day, you guys handle the rest." She sounded aggravated before she turned around, but if there had been any doubt about the woman's mood, the tight smile she gave him when she turned around would have told him all he needed to know.

"Oh, hey," she said through her smile. "Nice to see you. 'Scuse me." Wufei barely had time to put his back to the door frame before Phe was pushing through, calling to the dog.

"C'mon Dolly, I know no one's got you outside yet…"

Wufei watched as she grabbed a leash from an umbrella stand next to the door, and the dog excitedly jumped off the couch. He turned back to Marty and Marcy, a brow raised.

"Oh, she's been in a mood all day," Marty said and scratched his neck. He shook his head and gave a wave towards Phe's direction. "Don't worry about her. She'll get over herself or she'll get everyone mad at her. Women, am I right?"

Marcy's arm shot out to give Marty a good wap on the chest. Wufei was inclined to agree but decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

Marty frowned and rubbed the spot on his chest, though Wufei doubted it had hurt. "Anyhow, glad you could make it. We usually have one more, but he isn't coming this year, so it's nice to have someone else. Makes it feel less like we're missing someone."

"Thank you for the invitation. Can I… help with something?" He wasn't keen on working in the kitchen, but he was taught to respect his elders, and the two looked like they could use a hand.

Marty opened his mouth, but Marcy beat him to it.

"Oh no, dear. Not this time. Maybe next year. Guests get their first year free," she laughed and opened the fridge. "We still have to carve the turkey so you can take a seat if you want. Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Water? Beer? Only have a few bottles at the moment, Gary's supposed to bring more, but of course he and Jeannie are running late."

"Water is fine, thank you."

The woman handed him a bottle and then waved her fingers at him, shooing him from the kitchen. "Feel free to change the channel. Oh—you never answered about your name. Which do you prefer?"

Wufei shrugged and cracked his water bottle open. He found he was terribly thirsty now that he was in the warm house. "Chang is fine."

"Well okay then. Really though, we're fine, please take a seat. I'll feel like a bad hostess otherwise!"

For whatever reason, Wufei felt compelled to listen to the woman. For someone so petite and unassuming in appearance, she certainly had a way of filling the room with her presence. Perhaps it was her unwavering confidence, even after just meeting him. He brushed the thought to the side as he walked in and took a seat on one end of the couch—the other end seemed well worn and the recliner perpendicular to that seat looked just as well. Wufei was inclined to believe that those were the couple's designated seats. He placed his water bottle on a coaster on the coffee table in front of him, sliding a half empty hard-cider bottle over a few inches.

As he watched a large, orange cartoon cat balloon float across the screen he was suddenly hit with an odd sense of calm. Or, dare he say, tranquility—the tranquility that the Inn's owner had promised him on the day he came to Jasper's Cove.

He could not remember the last time he had celebrated a holiday. Thanksgiving may not have been one typically celebrated, being from a Chinese colony and whatnot, but there was definitely a distantly familiar sense in the atmosphere. It vaguely reminded him of his grandfather's eightieth birthday, which was celebrated when Wufei himself was ten years old.

And for some reason… it was okay.

It had been almost seven years since he had joined Mariemaia's army, claiming that there was no place but the battlefield for soldiers like him. He was so naive to think such a thing. Living a normal life was so much harder, but well worth the daily struggle. He felt guilt and regret for helping to perpetrate a war that ended so many lives before they, too, were able to have that realization.

Wufei continued to gaze at the television screen as it switched over to a performance from a high school marching band, though he wasn't really watching it. He perked up once more when he heard the front door open. The little dog came running into the room and made a dash straight at him. He stared at the black and white beast in confusion as it stood in front of him, barking.

"She wants you to pick her up," Phe said from the doorway, placing the dog's leash back in its spot and hanging up her grey coat. "She can't get up onto the couch on her own."

He shifted and leaned forward a bit, unsure of how to pick up the wiggling dog. Dolly didn't want to stand still long enough for him to actually pick her up. He reached out and paused, and in that moment, the dog jumped into his hands. In one smooth motion, he set the dog down and recoiled in disgust.

Dolly's fur was wet from the snow, which not only dampened his own hands, but made them smell like mutt.

He must have visibly grimaced because Phe responded saying, "oh, it isn't that bad."

She stepped over his legs and shooed the dog further down the couch. She sat down between him and the dog, thankfully blocking him from the barking animal entirely, and swiped the hard cider bottle from the coffee table. Wufei watched from the corner of his eye as she started to bring it to her mouth but then quickly stopped. She frowned and seemed to sniff the rip before turning to look at the dog.

"Really? I put my bottle down for like two seconds and you have to lick it? The last thing we need is an old, drunk dog running around this place…." Phe set the drink down again and flopped back against the couch, crossing her arms as she did so.

The pair sat in silence while Marty and Marcy argued over the best way to carve the turkey in the kitchen. Still, even through the silence, or maybe because of the silence, Wufei had the distinct impression that Phe's irritation was directed at him.

"Marty caught me yesterday and asked me to come."

"Yeah, he told me about an hour ago," Phe responded dryly, not moving her eyes from the television. Now there was some pop star on the screen singing a Christmas song. Wufei would never understand why people in the United States started celebrating Christmas so early.

"I should… not have come?" Wufei asked, raising a brow as he looked at her. "I'll be frank—reading women is far from my forte. If I've done something to aggravate you, I likely won't realize it on my own."

Phe looked at him and opened her mouth—from the sudden fire in her eyes, he unconsciously tensed, as if bracing himself for an attack. But then she shut it again and turned back to the screen pursing her lips slightly.

"No, everything's fine."

Wufei rolled his eyes and held in the loud sigh that was struggling to get free. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that when women or Gundam pilots said they were 'fine', they were likely far from it.

Maybe he should have gone for one of the beers after all.

A short while later that was a knock at the door—a knock he barely heard which led him to wonder how Marcy had heard him when he knocked. Before anyone could go to answer it, the door opened and a woman called out hello in a rather sing-song voice.

In walked a couple in perhaps their thirties. He recognized them as the owners of the Dollar Theater down the street.

Marty and Marcy greeted the couple from the kitchen, but they did not approach them. The pair, Gary and Jeannie, Wufei recalled Marcy saying, seemed comfortable enough in the house. Was it common for people to just walk into houses on their own in all small towns, or was it restricted to just Jasper's Cove? Regardless, Wufei found it to be very rude.

Gary and Jeannie both gave Wufei and Phe a wave before separating. Jeannie went to the kitchen table to set a casserole dish covered in aluminum foil on one of the preplaced pot holders, while Gary opened the back door. It was an old, mostly glass door that apparently took some forcing to open. Once he did, he set the case of beer he was carrying onto the back porch, presumably to keep it chilled.

Gary was the first to approach Wufei, extending his cold hand. Wufei politely stood to accept it, giving it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, I'm Gary and this is my wife Jeannie. We've seen you around but I don't think we've spoken. It's nice to have a new face around here."

"It was nice enough of Marty to invite me. It's a pleasure being here."

Wufei noticed that the man looked rather sickly. He was tall and thin, and his face looked a bit gaunt. His brown sweater looked a bit big and baggy, as if it were meant for a man with a bit more bulk to him. Regardless, Gary gave Wufei a genuine smile before walking over to take the recliner. "Mind if I put the game on?"

"Go ahead," Phe said with a sigh, passing over the remote, "we aren't really watching this anyhow."

It took another half hour before Marcy finally summoned them to the kitchen table by clapping loudly and wildly waving her hands. There was a sudden eagerness to come together, now that the food was all placed and uncovered. Even Wufei found himself slightly salivating at the sight of the home cooking.

They shuffled into place. It seemed that everyone else knew exactly which seats to take, save for Wufei. Both Marty and Marcy took the heads of the table, which was fair since it was their home. Gary and Jeannie took the seats closest to the kitchen, and Phe squeezed in between the table and the china cabinet. Wufei didn't bother to ask as he took the last remaining seat.

Around him, the others bowed their heads as Marty started to say a prayer, blessing their food. Though Wufei sat respectfully, he did not feel the need to participate since he did not share their religious beliefs. He discreetly glanced around and noticed that Phe, though her head was bowed and her hands were in her lap, her eyes were opened and she played with the edge of the napkin on her lap. Perhaps she didn't share their beliefs either.

"Alright," Marty finished loudly, "let's eat!"

Food was passed around and loaded onto plates while conversation roared to life.

"So no Andy this year?" Jeannie asked as she scooped some of Phe's sweet potato casserole onto her plate. "This is the first year he's missed since before the Rebellion ended. It's weird not having him here, isn't it Phe?"

Phe shrugged and continued trying to find a place to put the green bean casserole now that the food had been rearranged. Wufei reached over and shuffled around the stuffing and gravy for her. "Oh, I mean, yeah, I guess. I dunno. He's a busy guy and the weather isn't helping. He emailed you, didn't he Marcy?"

The other woman nodded vigorously but had to finish chewing before she could speak. "He did. The weather just wasn't cooperating so he didn't think he would make it. The Preventers have been keeping him busy, that's for sure."

Wufei tensed. He didn't know who they were talking about, but yet again he found himself wondering how he could have possibly missed such an important piece of information. He had really thought that he had done a thorough job at researching the town residents, but he had also not been able to find any information on Marty's son. Considering his connection to Phe, Wufei felt that it was extremely imperative that he find out something on the man.

And now he was just finding out that another Preventer frequented the island.

"Andy's my nephew," Marcy leaned over and said to Wufei. "He's about your age. Joined the ESUN military just before CSO's take over. He joined the Seraph's shortly after, and now works for the Preventers. He doesn't live on the island anymore, hasn't since my sister moved away. She died when he was in high school, so I'm his only family left. He tries to come in during the holidays, but military life is hard. He's lucky to get off as often as he does."

Wufei nodded but he did not respond. He didn't know what he could possibly say that wouldn't open up the conversation to discussion about his own experiences.

"Have we got the catering order for the Christmas party?" Phe asked suddenly, cutting the conversation short, to Wufei's relief.

Marty groaned. "No… Nicole won't commit to anything. Says she needs to talk to Jonathan."

"She is so useless."

"Phe!" Jeannie scolded, "that's not fair. You know Jonathan's busy—"

"Oh please!" Phe threw her silverware down with a clank. "Everyone knows that they're sleeping together. You'd think she'd have the chance to ask, 'can you sign off on the order?' in between taking each other's clothes—"

"Phe!" Both Marty and Marcy shouted at her before she could finish. She clamped her mouth shut with a humph and rolled her eyes.

She grabbed her glass of wine took a deep drink from it. "I'm just saying…"

"So, Chang, where are you from?" Marcy asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

He had braced himself for some personal questions before he had arrived. He wasn't keen on revealing too much, but he didn't have the intention to lie if he could avoid it.

"I'm from the colonies, originally."

Marcy nodded and hummed with mild interest. "And what brings you to quiet ol' Jasper's Cove? I imagine it's a pretty big change in scenery for you."

"Life, I suppose," Wufei said with a shrug. "I had been traveling around for some time before that, and this was just where I ended up. I haven't called the colonies home in some time, so any place is as good as another."

"Don't you have family or someone who's missing you?" Jeannie asked, perhaps a bit of an edge to her voice.

"Jeannie…" Gary said. His voice was low with warning, which set off an alarm in the back of Wufei's head.

The woman gave her husband a hard look, causing him to back off immediately. "I'm just asking. Don't you want to know? We don't get new people here. Phe's the first one in almost a decade, and now another? It seems like it can't be a coincidence."

"No, I don't," Wufei replied coolly, sitting up straighter to look at the woman. "My colony was the one in L5 that blew up in 195. I have no family, and the place that I called home is gone."

A deep blush started creeping up Jeannie's face and Gary looked like he wanted to sink into his chair. "Well… I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's been ten years. I've moved on."

There was a lull in the conversation after that, and Wufei started looking for his first opportunity to escape. Things were turning out to be worse than he predicted, which was really saying something, since he had expected something pretty disastrous anyhow.

His opportunity seemed to present itself as they were just starting to finish up. There was a loud knock at the front door, which caused Jeannie and Gary to visibly jump. The door opened a millisecond later, and a man's voice filled the hallway. "Guess who!"

Marcy jumped up with a wide smile and shriek of delight. When the man walked into the living room, she threw her arms around his neck with enthusiasm.

"Andy, you brat! You should have told us you were coming!"

Wufei's stomach dropped. His mind started racing through what he could possibly say if the man recognized him. However, as the other Preventer walked to the table, his eyes flicked over Wufei with hardly a pause. There was no recognition in his face.

"Wow, guess I really should have told you—you sure replaced me fast! What, did Phe go and get herself a boyfriend?" He smiled and reached out to shake Wufei's hand, even as he dodged a roll that was thrown at his head. It landed on the couch and Dolly immediately started tearing into it. "Hey, man, I'm Andy."

Wufei accepted the shake. It was strong and sturdy, and Wufei returned it with equal force. "Chang. I apologize if I'm in your seat."

Andy waved him off. "Nah, that's what I get for showing up late. Was hoping to surprise everyone."

"I was just planning on leaving anyhow—"

"What?" Marcy practically barked. She was pulling in another chair from somewhere towards the back of the house. "No, of course you can't leave. You haven't even had dessert. Phe even made a pumpkin pie this year."

He was tempted to disregard the woman anyhow and leave, just to escape any potentially awkward conversation, but he felt a hand on his right arm. Phe looked at him and shook her head. "What she really means to say is—if you leave before you try her cherry pie, she'll kill you. It's her pride and joy."

Wufei stared into her green eyes and finally sighed. "I suppose I can't miss pie."

"Perfect!" Marcy said and clapped her hands together. "Here, Andy, you sit down and load up. I'll start putting some of the extra stuff away. Jeannie, could you help me?"

It looked like Jeannie may have wanted to object, but she did not argue with Marcy. She stood and started gathering up plates. She was, after all, the closest to the door. And perhaps it was her punishment for being rude to Marcy's guest.

"So really, you Phe's boyfriend?" Andy asked as he pulled in his seat and started scooping potatoes from their bowl.

"No," Wufei replied quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly, from the way Andy's brow rose. "I'm just new to town."

Andy shrugged and nodded before digging into his food.

Casual conversation picked up between Gary and Marty at the table, while Marcy and Jeannie were speaking from within the kitchen. Phe sat quietly at Wufei's side, presumably waiting until Andy's mouth wasn't full to speak with him.

It was at that point that Wufei noticed the sound on the television changing. The football game that had been on the in background cut out suddenly, and he could hear the sound of quiet coughing instead.

"Thank you, everyone, for gathering on such short notice."

It was Quatre's voice.

Wufei fought the urge to jump up. Instead, he calmly slide his chair away from the table and walked to the living room to find an emergency broadcast playing before him.

Quatre stood at a podium, his expression forlorn. He was in a Preventers' uniform, adjusting the microphone mounted in front of him. In the corner of the screen, a small box played a video on loop. It was hard to tell what Wufei was seeing, since the images were rather shaky. However, after the second loop, he realized that he was watching Une stand at a similar podium before falling to the ground.

"A few hours ago, Preventer Une was shot at another press conference in Washington D.C. We are relieved to announce that she is in stable condition. Nevertheless, we will be conduction a full investigation in order to catch the culprit. At this time, the Preventers are investigating numerous leads from reputable sources. Though we do not have the identity of our suspect, it is believed that the shooter is part of the group calling themselves The Rapture."

Phe joined him at the television, and soon, everyone was standing around. A thick tension filled the air and even the dog whimpered from behind them.

"Though Chief Une did not have the chance to present because of the attack, we refuse to remain silent, which may, ultimately, have been the suspect's goal. Therefore, I am publicly announcing that the Preventers are officially turning their resources to tacking down and detaining any members of The Rapture. Though many people have made it clear that they would refuse to prosecute The Rapture because they target only CSO soldiers, I want to make it clear that the Preventers will do everything in their power to end these brutal attacks. Many people may believe that the CSO soldiers who disappeared after the Rebellion deserve to be punished, there is a legal, humane way to go about doing so. Do not forget that many of these men and women were unwilling participants. If we allow for The Rapture to continue acting without consequence, then we are no better than those who sat on the sidelines and allowed CSO to conduct their human experimentation in the first place. If you have information regarding The Rapture or the attack on Chief Une, please visit our website for our information hotline. Thank you."

Quatre gave a polite nod to the crowd before turning and walking off stage. The feed continued for a few more seconds before the small window showing the footage of Une filled the screen. It played two more times before it cut away to news anchors sitting at a desk. Wufei watched the group from the corner of his eye, but he said nothing.

"Must've happened when I was flying in," Andy finally said, breaking the silence. "Didn't even hear about that. That's too bad. I haven't met Chief Une, but I hear she's a good woman."

"Well, they said she's stable, so that's good," Marty said with a shrug.

Marcy shook her head with a wry smile on her face. "They should have known better than to try to shoot her. That woman was a big shot for OZ. I heard she was shot before, too, and she pulled through."

"I'm going to take Dolly for a walk," Phe said suddenly. She didn't even wait for a response before she was grabbing her coat and the leash again.

"Wait, you shouldn't go—"

"I'm taking Dolly for a walk," she said again, this time louder than before. Marty threw his hands up in defeat and walked into the kitchen.

Andy cleared his throat. "Aunt Marcy, why don't you go ahead and pull out the dessert. I'm also going to step outside. Just want to make a few phone calls."

It only took a few moments for Andy to disappear out the front door as well. Wufei thought about leaving, but he wasn't sure how he could escape without seeming particularly suspicious.

"Oh, you know what, this is the perfect chance," Marcy said quickly as Wufei looked to the door for probably a fifth time. "Let's hurry and try the pumpkin pie. If it's terrible, we'll just say we all had a piece already and then send the rest back with her."

"Forgive me, but, what?" Wufei asked, staring down at the pumpkin pie in front of him. Marcy had pulled it out and set it down. Marty was quickly moving over to start cutting it.

"Phe… well, she's not the best when it comes to cooking or baking," Marty replied, pushing the knife through the orange filling. "She isn't bad, at least, not when she follows the directions. Sometimes she goes a little overboard with the spices. Can't blame her. She just can't always taste everything very well, so, she compensates. But, since some days are better than others, it's hard for her to tell when she really hasn't put in enough and when she only she can't taste it."

Marcy set out some plates, and Marty moved one slice over. "Alright," Marcy sighed, "who dares try it. Her potatoes were fine, so that's a good sign."

No one volunteered.

Wufei shrugged and took it. He grabbed a fork as everyone leaned forward a bit, waiting to see his reaction. He took a bite and instantly regretted it. There was far too much nutmeg. He swallowed it down and then made a grab for his wine glass, which had until thus sat untouched. Marcy was certainly smart to have the foresight to try it while Phe was out.

"That's what I was afraid of… Chang, dear, could you please go and keep her busy for a few more minutes. I don't want her walking in while we're tossing everything."

The fact that they wanted to hide their dislike from Phe bothered him immensely. He was not the sort of person who would lie about something so mundane. However, with the mood the woman was in, he could see the merit in hiding the truth. So he stood and went to retrieve his jacket from the coat rack.

When he went out the front door, he looked around to see where Phe had gone. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped off the porch, thumbing his phone while he did so. He wanted to try to call Quatre again, even if it was unlikely he would answer. The fact that Une had been shot and they hadn't immediately called him caused him a special sort of aggravation—one he only felt when one of the other pilots pissed him off. Was he no longer worthy enough of being kept in the loop?

He let a low growl escape the back of his throat as he turned to walk around towards the back of the house. He could see footprints in the snow. Maybe they would lead him to Phe.

As he neared the back, he moved quietly. If Phe was trying to avoid everyone else for the moment, he didn't want her continuing her circle. He'd rather catch her so he could distract her a bit. However, just as he was a few steps from the back porch, he realized that he had only followed Andy's footsteps. He could hear the other man on the phone.

For what felt like the hundredth time that week, Wufei assured himself that he wasn't a snoop. He had no desire to eavesdrop in on the man, despite the fact that he may be having a Preventer-related conversation. So, he turned to walk back in the direction he came.

"… I dunno, man. Are you sure? I'm telling you, she doesn't remember anything… Yes… yes.. She saw the broadcast. Yeah. I dunno, nervous maybe? She ran out to take the dog for a walk… I assume so. What the hell do you want me to do? Hold her down and look? I know. I know! … I said I would help, but it's weird because I actually know this one. She's not like the others… How long until you get here then? Even if it's true, I'm not going to be the one to do it. My hands are clean on this one… Fine, 'mostly' clean."

Wufei stopped, his chest tightening involuntarily. He hadn't meant to hear that, but like hell if he was going to ignore it now.

He spun on his heel and rushed up the back porch. Andy looked completely bewildered to see Wufei running at him. He didn't even have time to react before Wufei had him shoved into the white siding of the back of the house. His phone fell into the snow, presumably still on the line with whoever Andy had called.

Andy's eyes flickered to the phone. He twisted himself and dove for it. Wufei caught him by the waist and pulled him back. Together, they fell into the snow. Andy threw his elbow back, narrowly missing Wufei's face. Wufei caught his arm and pulled, keeping Andy from reaching the phone, and lurched forward to make a grab himself.

Andy shoved him to the side, causing Wufei to knock the phone off the porch and to the ground. The other man went for the steps, and Wufei threw his leg out, tripping him. Andy landed face first on the ground with a thud. There may have been a few inches of snow but it wasn't enough padding to protect the man's face.

Taking the opening, Wufei jumped up and scrambled down the steps to look for the phone. It had fallen between some of the bushes. As he tried to look for it, Andy recovered and tackled him to the ground. They rolled around for a few seconds, but it didn't take long before Wufei had him pinned to the ground. Andy may have been a taller, bulkier man than Wufei, but that was nothing compared to Wufei's years of training.

Wufei pulled his arm back and had every intention of knocking the man out when he was interrupted.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Phe had rounded the back of the house with Dolly, who was currently barking like mad.

"The dude's fucking crazy!" Andy shouted, struggling to get his hands free from under Wufei's knees. "He ran up out of nowhere and started attacking me!"

Wufei kept his arm raised, though he did not follow through with his blow. "Phe, look for his phone by the bushes."

She didn't move right away. Just as he was about to tell her again, he could hear the crunching of snow behind him. It only took her a few moment to find the phone. Dolly was the one to actually search it out. Her little nose narrowed in on it and Phe pulled it out of the snow.

"Oh, c'mon, Phe!" Andy shouted, pulling against Wufei. "Go get Marty! Get him to get this psycho off of me!"

Phe looked at Andy and Wufei, and then at the phone. "What do you want with this? It's locked, anyhow."

He growled. Of course it would lock after a few moments of inactivity. He should have expected that. Wufei leaned forward, putting more pressure on Andy's arms, causing the other man to cringe as his nerves were crushed. "What's the password?"

"Why the fuck do you think I would—"

"If you have nothing to hide, then it shouldn't be a problem, should it?" Wufei replied quickly. Andy glared up at him with malice in his eyes. It looked as if the other man wanted to say a few words, but when his eyes flicked over the Phe, he chose not to say them.

"One-four-seven-eight."

Since she was still holding it, Phe entered the code. "It's unlocked. Now what."

"Call the last number, whether incoming or outgoing."

Phe did as she was told and put the phone on speaker. It buzzed a few times before kicking over to an automated message.

"You have reached the Preventers Headquarters. If you know your party's extension, please enter it now. Otherwise, please stay on the line for further assistance."

Wufei looked down at Andy in confusion, and Andy stared back with perhaps a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Wufei," Phe said in almost a growl, "let him go."

With one last long at the man he had pinned, Wufei lowered his arm and rolled to the side.

000

Author's Notes: I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems that people are somehow stumbling upon this again. I'm honestly quite surprised to receive requests to continue posting! I will try to stay motivated to continue, but I honestly forget about it quite often!

Though to Lilxin and Lavenderfiction for your reviews! This chapter is for you!

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	5. Chapter 5

After Colony: Rebirth

000

He didn't even go back inside. Wufei checked to make sure his own phone wasn't damaged before he took off, storming past Phe and Dolly, and heading back towards the front of the house. He had made it almost a block before he realized he was being followed. Wufei whirled around, expecting to see Andy chasing him down. Instead, however, he found Phe walking quickly to catch up to him.

"You should go back inside," he called out to her. "It's too cold out here."

Phe scowled and continued to approach him. He certainly hadn't been expecting the fist she threw at his face moments later, but he still managed to catch her by the wrist before impact. Phe tried to pull back, but he held tight, jerking her forward so that she had to stand closer to him. She raised her other fist, but he grabbed that arm too. They stood in the snow, inches apart, struggling against one another.

"Why—are—you—such—a—dick!"

He couldn't help but let out an offended tsk. He didn't think he had ever been called that before.

"Let—me—go!"

"If I let you go, you're just going to try to hit me again," Wufei replied dryly. Phe tried to jerk her arms back two more times before she stopped and looked up at him, a frown deeply in place. It wasn't just a frown though. It was more of a pout. They stared at each other for a few moments until her shoulders finally slumped, signaling her surrender. Slowly, he loosened his grip on her wrists. Just as he thought she was about to move away, her fist jabbed forward, catching him hard on the side of his jaw.

He should have been angry. He should have hit her back. However, as he rubbed his jaw, he actually felt somewhat relieved to know that she could still hit just as hard as she could before.

"What was that for?" He asked, stepping back to put space between them. He didn't want her to think she had another free shot at him.

"Are you aware of how much of a jerk you can be, or are you legitimately oblivious?"

"The reason I hit your friend—"

"My friend," Phe said loudly, "that's exactly it! You think you can just go and beat up one of my, like, three friends and I wouldn't be angry? And that's after you snoop through my stuff and turn me down for dinner? You deserve to be punched in the face!"

"Dinner? That's why you're in such a bad mood?" Wufei put his head back, looking to the sky and shaking his head. "I told you. I had to make some phone calls. I couldn't stick around."

Phe threw her hands up in the air. "That's basically the lamest excuse ever!"

"No, it isn't! Sometimes, I need to call people all across the world—and in the colonies. I have to deal with time zones. It was my day off. I just had things to do."

She shoved her hands into her pockets and looked down. "Well… Yeah, alright. That's a pretty good excuse. Still, you shouldn't have assaulted Andy and then just…. Run off."

"I don't have a good explanation."

Phe shook her head and gave sort of a half-smile. Maybe it was sad. It definitely seemed a bit hurt.

"You know, when you first came here, you seemed like a nice guy. Cool, mysterious… Seemed like someone more interesting than the people I deal with on a daily basis. I've thought about leaving the island. You know, going to explore and see the rest of the world, and then some. I guess… If you're what's waiting for me in the outside world, I'm better off staying here." She shrugged and started backing up. "Happy Thanksgiving, Wufei."

Her back was to him before he had a chance to respond, not that he had a response. Instead, he watched her walk away, the flurries of snow making her fade away before she even hit the end of the street.

000

Two hours after Quatre's broadcast, Wufei sat on the edge of his neatly made bed, staring down at his phone. Quatre still had not returned his call. He tried to reach Trowa, but still, no answer. He had Heero's number selected, though he hadn't yet been able to bring himself to press 'send.' If the other two pilots hadn't answered, why would Heero?

He leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee and rubbing the back of his neck. Though he had vowed never to speak to Heero Yuy again, it seemed that Une's attack was a pretty good reason to renege. Wufei had an immense respect for Une, and that respect surely superseded any sort of offense Heero had caused him.

Any doubts he may have had were pushed aside when he finally called the number and it started ringing. Unlike Quatre and Trowa's phones, which went to voice mail rather quickly, making Wufei believe his calls were being ignored, Heero's continued to buzz.

And buzz. And buzz. Just as Wufei was about to hang up, Heero answered.

"Yuy."

"It's Wufei."

There was a pause on the other line, and for a moment, Wufei thought that Heero had hung up on him. "Wondered how long it would take until you tried me."

If it had been most people, those words probably would have sounded mocking or condescending. Not with Heero. With Heero, they were just words.

"I can't get in touch with anyone else. Why didn't anyone call me about Une?" Wufei stood and started pacing about his room. It helped to keep the growing aggravation he already felt to a minimum.

"That's because it's official Preventers business, and you aren't an official Preventer."

"That's a load of shit," Wufei snapped, "You and I have the same status. We both do Preventer work without being on the official employee list. What makes it okay for you to have privileged information, and not me?"

He was already regretting his decision to call Heero. He should have known better. It had taken him a long time to realize it, but Wufei hardly ever liked Heero in the first place. Sure, their quiet personas had made it tolerable to be around one another, but Heero's ability to commit to a mission regardless of what was right and what was wrong, was something that bothered Wufei to no end.

"Because I wasn't working on a project that was apparently compromised."

"What?"

"You heard me. The project you were assigned to complete has been compromised. There's a leak. We're working on it. Don't worry about it."

If Wufei had been a lesser person, he may have considered punching a wall. That, however, was beneath him. "If it has to do with my project, doesn't it make more sense to call me back in? I would be the expert on it, after all."

There was silence from Heero's side of the line.

"You think I have something to do with it, don't you?"

"Well, punishing people who may have escaped justice does seem like your sort of M.O."

If he ever laid eyes on Heero again, Wufei swore right then and there that he would try to kill the pilot himself. He would probably fail since apparently Heero was invincible, but Wufei would certainly try.

"That is so fucking ridiculous, I don't even know where to start," Wufei growled. "Quatre gave me the assignment for a very particular reason, and he knows exactly where I've been and what I've been doing for the past three months. He knows why I wouldn't decide to start enacting retribution on former CSO soldiers."

"Quatre might, but no one else does. He hasn't said a word about your status or location. He even insisted that no one contact you. He said you're specifically to remain inactive, and in your current location."

Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose. Heero didn't have all of the information. In some ways, it was no wonder why he immediately suspected Wufei. Hell, Wufei may have even suspected himself, if he was in Heero's shoes.

"I found her."

"Who?"

"Edan. I found her. She's here. Where I am, that is."

Heero paused, and Wufei could almost hear the pieces falling together. "… That's what you were doing? Looking for someone who we thought was dead?"

"No, you thought she was dead. They didn't find her body, so I didn't believe it. She was a Gundam pilot after all. We're particularly hard to kill. She's alive. She… Doesn't remember anything, but she's alive. Quatre was the one who sent me here." Though Wufei wasn't exactly keen on telling anyone about Phe, he was rather confident that Heero was trustworthy. Unless, of course, Heero was the leak. Surely that couldn't have been the case.

At least, Wufei hoped not.

"Where are you?"

"If you don't know, then I'd rather not say," Wufei replied.

"I can track you down if I want to. It wouldn't be hard."

"Well, then feel free. This phone is encrypted, so you aren't likely to get it from tracking the call. It will take you at least a little while. I shouldn't have even told you about her. I don't want anyone else knowing how to find her." Wufei contemplated hanging up right then and there, but he didn't.

"Seems a little selfish of you. Some of us were her friends too, you know."

"It's for her own protection. She may have switched sides towards the end of the Rebellion, but there are probably a lot of people who would love to get their hands on CSO's 'War'. Tell Quatre to call me as soon as he can. I'll stay—I won't go back to headquarters if he doesn't want me to. But I sure as hell have a few words for him if he thinks I'm in on the compromise," Wufei said.

"Roger."

Wufei stared down at the now blank phone screen for all of two seconds before turning around and whipping it at his bed. It bounced off the mattress and landed on his pillow. As far as he was concerned, he could adequately assume that the Preventers weren't likely to come to his aid, in the event it was needed. It didn't bother him that he had been abandoned in some senses—he was a solitary creature by nature. He didn't need the comfort of a contingency plan.

What bothered him was that it seemed Quatre had abandoned Phe too. Wufei couldn't be certain that he could protect her if someone from The Rapture turned their sights onto her. Even he had his limits, and those limits would be quickly strained if a group of people came to Jasper's Cove while Wufei had little to no Intel.

Wiping his hands down his face, Wufei sighed and squared his shoulders. He threw away any doubt and insecurities that may have been trying to creep up on him, and went straight for the old, wooden desk pushed against one of the pastel colored walls. His first order of business was to do a bit of research on Andy—which he knew could be a bit difficult since he hadn't caught the man's last name. If his access to the Preventers' database hadn't already been restricted, he felt rather sure it would happen sooner rather than later. If that were the case, then he had to work quickly.

000

Wufei's eyes shot open when his phone started buzzing from the nightstand next to him. At first, he had thought that maybe Quatre was returning his call. Instead, he saw Phe's number flashing across his screen.

It was almost three in the morning.

He sat up sharply and swung is legs over his bed, answering the call as he did. "Phe?"

"I think there's someone outside of my house."

"Did you call the police?"

"No. Sheriff Donnelly is like ninety years old. He's only here for show. You know we don't have any real police here."

Wufei squeezed his eyes shut, and opened them again, trying to force away any traces of sleep. It had been much easier to do when he was younger. He was finding it harder to overcome his normal bodily functions with each year that passed by. "Where are you now? Are you in your room?"

"No. I'm not sure why I woke up. Maybe I heard my screen door. I came down to double check the locks, and turned on all of the lights. There are footprints in the snow—but mine are covered from when I came home around eleven, and it's still snowing."

Regardless if someone was outside of her house now or if it had been a few hours ago, Wufei felt her concern was valid. There was no reason anyone should have been there in the first place, and with the partial conversation Wufei had overheard earlier from Andy, he wasn't about to brush her off as paranoid.

"I'm going to come check it out. Stay away from any windows. If you can go somewhere secure, do that—preferably somewhere with two exits. Leave the lights on." He was already pulling his clothes from his drawers before she had time to respond.

"Yeah, okay, I'll do that. But first… can you prove you're in your guesthouse?"

Wufei frowned momentarily but then stepped over to the old, small television on his dresser. He clicked it on so that Phe could hear the sound of a late night infomercial. "I'm not sure how I can prove I'm at my place—"

"No, no. That's fine. I just… wanted to check. Sorry. Yeah. I'm going to go back upstairs. Call me when you're here and I'll let you in."

Wufei hung up and hurried to pull a shirt over his head. In less than a minute, he was dressed and stepping into his shoes. He was just about to leave when he stopped and went back to his closet. He kept his duffel bag on the top shelf, with his firearm hidden inside. Much to his dismay, the guesthouse didn't have a safe he could lock it away in, and he hadn't yet been able to secure one without raising suspicion.

He pulled the gun out and checked to make sure it was just as he left it. He then set the safety and haphazardly shoved it below the hem of his shirt, like he knew he wasn't supposed to, and then headed for the door.

Barely ten minutes after leaving the warmth of his guesthouse, Wufei was circling Phe's property, looking for signs of disturbance. Just as she said, there were footprints outside of her house. It appeared that there was only one person sneaking about, but he doubted that would do anything to set the woman's mind at ease. Wufei followed the footprints around the house until he found them trailing away into a cluster of trees that led up the hill, away from Phe's property.

Instantly, Wufei regretted not having a flashlight. There had been enough light on the streets approaching the house that he hadn't needed it. However, as he walked further into the tree line, the darker the area became. He had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he could continue to follow the trail.

To his relief, the footprints did not continue to go deeper into the woods. Instead, they veered to the left, heading for the street that Wufei had walked up. He found himself crossing over the driveway of the neighbor's house, though it wasn't necessarily 'close' to Phe. Soon, the footprints were on the pavement of the road, and Wufei was following the prints to the top of the hill.

When he reached the top, he found that there were tire tracks in the snow. There were no more houses around, only a canopy of trees. However, most interesting, was the fact that it looked like the culprit's footprints stopped at the passenger's side of the car, leading him to believe that there were at least two people involved with the suspicious act.

Wufei thought about trying to follow the car, but he knew he could end up losing the trail in the snow. He may have been able to move quickly, but he doubted it would be enough to beat the snowfall that was already filling in the tracks he had followed. Reluctantly, he turned and headed back to Phe's house.

When Wufei reached her front porch, he called Phe's number again. It buzzed, but she never answered. He was starting to consider breaking down the door in case something happened to her, when she came quickly down the front steps. She unlocked the chain and deadbolt on the door before pulling it open to him. "Did you find anything?"

"No," he said and stepped inside. She didn't hesitate to shut and lock the door behind him again. "There were footprints, as you said, but they led away from the house. Looks like someone came down from the woods and then went back. You probably scared them away by turning on the lights."

Phe nodded slowly and wrapped her arms around herself. She was wearing a pair of blue, striped pajama pants with a tee shirt and oversized sweater that could be tied at the waist, but wasn't. He did notice that she wasn't wearing a bra, so he quickly averted his eyes to keep from appearing rude.

"You said you thought you heard the backdoor?"

"Yeah. It's old and loud. Makes a lot of noise when it snaps shut. I mean, I was sleeping so I could have been dreaming it, but I thought I heard it."

Wufei slid by Phe and walked through the kitchen to the back door. It also had a deadbolt, which he twisted. When he opened the door and looked at the handle, he found that not only was it cold, of course, but it was wet as well. It was as if someone with snow covered gloves had tried to use the handle. He closed and locked the door again.

"Have you called Marty?"

Phe shook her head. "No… He and Marcy charge their phones in the kitchen. He wouldn't have heard his phone even if I had called him. He gets up around six so I'll call him then."

"What about Andy?"

She gave him a slightly annoyed look but shook her head again. "His phone has water damage from the snow. After he went inside and tried to wipe everything off, he wasn't able to send or receive calls. I couldn't call him even if I wanted to."

Wufei watched as she pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and dropped onto it. She put her elbows onto the table and her head in her hands. Now it was almost four in the morning.

"You didn't want to call Andy?" Wufei asked, turning to stare out the window. Her back lights lit up the yard rather well, but he couldn't see any movement. He doubted even an animal would approach, now that there had been so much activity around the house.

"I don't know. I guess I honestly didn't even think about calling him. He's only on the island for a few days at a time, so it's not like he's one of my go to people. Just a friend. I walked down here, saw the footprints and I panicked. You were one of the first people on my contacts list, so I called you." She sighed and then groaned loudly as she pushed her head further into her hand. Her messy hair fell to either side of her face, covering her entirely from Wufei's view.

"What if I hadn't answered?"

"Didn't think about it. I just… knew you would. Don't ask me how, but I just knew you'd be the type of person to have your phone next to your head, even at night." He didn't response to her, and after a few moments, she suddenly looked up and dropped her hands to the table with a loud thud. "By the way, when, exactly, did you put your number into my phone?"

Wufei shrugged. "Last week. I was going to tell you that you should call me, if Marty is unavailable, now that I know about your 'fits.' We started talking about magic fairies, however, and it slipped my mind."

"Huh… Well… Thanks. Sorry for dragging you out of bed. I guess I owe you one. If you want, I can let you out and lock up—"

His brows shot upwards. "Oh, no. I'm staying."

She looked completely taken aback as she stood up, holding her hands out in front of her. "Woah, woah, now wait a minute. While I appreciate you checking everything out for me—"

Wufei crossed his arms and raised his chin. "You're a woman living alone, surrounded by woods that would easily allow an attacker to hide. Though I do believe that whoever was out there has left, leaving you alone now would not only be unwise, it would be flat out stupid."

Phe opened and closed her mouth a few times before throwing her hands up and letting out a sigh of frustration. Wufei may have even found it a bit amusing, what with her crazy hair and flailing arms going all over the place… but he was hardly in a joking mood. Her shoulders slumped as she brushed some strands of hair from her face.

"I'm too tired to fight over this. I have some stuff on the guest room bed, but I can clear it off and—"

"The couch is fine. I doubt I'll sleep anyhow. It would just be better if I'm down here in case there is an intruder," Wufei said and started to unbutton his jacket. If she had really objected to him staying, he would have left. However, since she really didn't, he might as well make himself comfortable.

While Phe walked from room to room, shutting off the lights, he draped his coat over one of the kitchen chairs and slipped his shoes off, setting them by the front door. He checked both doors one last time before walking into the living room. Phe entered moments later, a pillow and a few blankets in her arms. "Whether you sleep or not, you'll be cold soon. This place is drafty. If you need something, give a shout or text me. I'm not a heavy sleeper. Honestly if I can fall back to sleep after all of this, I'll be lucky."

He took the pile from her arms and set them out the couch. At the very least, it gave him somewhere to hide his firearm once she was out of the room. He didn't know how she would react to seeing a weapon, but it wasn't something he wanted to find out at that particular moment. She gave him a small wave before heading for the steps. Once he could hear her shut her bedroom door, he laid out the blankets and flicked off the light.

As Wufei lay on the couch, staring out at the snow and occasional moonlight, he realized how long it had been since someone had counted on him, specifically, to protect them. Even if Phe had been angry at him twelve hours earlier, she had still had the sense to call him when she panicked. He wouldn't say it made him feel good to step into a protector's role—after all, it would be even better if he hadn't needed to be in that position in the first place. It did, however, make him feel something.

He just wasn't entirely sure what that something was.

000

Author's Notes: I'm sorry… I know I went MIA and I don't have an excuse since this is mostly written. I haven't quite finished, but I'm close. I had to write one section twice and have some people give me some thoughts. I'll aim to have everything out by the end of the year…

Sammyjane73: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you didn't find things 'bad' with the last chapter. Surprised is good, haha!

Greentbag: Hopefully you'll get the update this time! Thanks for sticking with me!

Lavenderfiction: I know. I'm terrible with the updating. I am going to swear to get another chapter out before the end of the month! It did slip my mind for a while, I admit…

Lilxin: You're someone else without an update alert! How weird! I hope it works this time! You do not want to try Phe's pie. It's terrible, really. She should not be allowed to cook for people!

Thank you everyone for reading! I'm sorry I'm horrible! I've been working on a few events (I went to wizard school to play a Herbology professor in July, I run a superhero bar crawl for charity at the start of August, I have a fancy Masquerade Ball on Friday October 13th that I'm planning for a non-profit, and a charity Harry Potter concert in Novemeber… I've been swamped! I've also started to plan a Lovecraft themed larp at a Mansion in 2018 so… There's been a lot going on!)

Ever Your Servant,

A.F


	6. Chapter 6

After Colony: Rebirth

DRAFT

000

By the time Wufei could hear the front steps start to creak, he had managed to snooze on and off for nearly four hours. He had remained completely still throughout the last few hours of darkness with his hand under his pillow, wrapped around the hilt of his gun. Despite his few moments of rest, his ears remained alert for any unusual sounds—sounds that never came.

He cracked his eye open when Phe quietly crept into the kitchen and started opening cupboards. He remained unmoving and merely watched as she crouched down and tried to shift some pots around with as little noise as possible. It was possible that she was trying not to wake him, though if he had still been asleep, he would have woken abruptly when the pile of pots clanked loudly to the floor.

"I'm awake," he called out and slowly started to sit up. Phe sighed loudly from the kitchen.

"Of course you are…"

Wufei chose to keep his gun hidden as he stood up and stretched. The couch may not have been the most comfortable thing in the world, but he could certainly say he had slept in worse places. When he didn't see Phe's head pop back up over the island countertop, he walked into the kitchen as well.

She sat on the floor, trying to restack the various pots and pans that had fallen out from the cupboard. When she caught sight of him, her shoulders slumped and she stopped what she was doing. "I had this grand idea that I would try to get breakfast on before you woke up. That way you couldn't escape by saying you had 'phone calls.'"

The clock on the stove indicated that it was only a little bit past eight o'clock. It was later than Wufei usually rose, but given the circumstances, he felt it was forgivable. So, he turned to lean against the countertop, arms crossed over his chest. "McGlennen's is closed. I don't have anywhere else to be."

Phe cracked a smile and resumed her rearranging. "Well, good. The least I can do is give you breakfast after you trekked out at three in the morning to look for intruders. I promise, my eggs aren't as bad as my pie."

Wufei raised a brow and stared down at her. He knew he certainly hadn't said anything to her about the pie being over spiced—had the others?"

"You don't think I'm that dumb, do you?" She asked as she stood, bringing one of the skillets up with her. "No one can eat that much pie, that quickly. Marcy means well by trying to hide my, er, mistakes from me, but I know."

As she went about pulling a handful of ingredients and cooking supplies from around the kitchen, Wufei was content to stand by and watch. He tried to recall another point in time where a woman had cooked for him—specifically him. In the end, he could only think of a few times his grandmother had made him meals. He had only been married to Meiran a short period and she had never cooked for him. They ate with the rest of the Long Clan since they were still essentially children.

Even before he had gone off to boarding school, when his parents were still alive, his family had a cook. If his mother had ever made him something, he couldn't recall it.

Sure, Phe worked at the restaurant and frequently prepared him something, but that was different. He wasn't standing in her kitchen while she was still in her pajamas, watching her move about.

Soon, Wufei found he was staring at Phe, but not really seeing her.

"—toast?"

"Hm?" He blinked a few times and shifted so he stood a bit straighter. "What was that?"

"Do you think that's enough toast?" Phe waved to the plate sitting in front of the toaster and the toaster itself. There was already a stack prepared and another on its way.

"Oh. Yeah, sure."

She didn't bother to scoop any of the scrambled eggs onto the plates she had pulled down while he was lost in his thoughts. Instead, she carried the entire skillet over with a pot holder and set it onto the table. Phe then set a plate at the head of the table as well as some mismatched silverware. "Go ahead and sit. What do you want to drink? I have some orange juice, milk, and water."

"Water's fine," he replied and moved to the seat as directed. She returned with a filled glass for him and started setting out her own plate. She moved between the counters and the tables two more times before she finally sat down.

"Eggs were the first thing I learned to cook," Phe said with a laugh as she loaded up her plate and then slid the spatula to him. "They're pretty hard to mess up. Here's some extra salt and pepper, if you want it. I went easy on it, I promise."

The rest of their meal was in silence. It was a comfortable silence, one that Wufei was rather happy to have. He wasn't much of a morning person when he hadn't been able to do his meditation—some people liked to have a cup of coffee, he liked to mentally prepare for his day.

When Wufei finally looked up from his food, he found that Phe had a rather deep expression plastered to her face. Her brows were furrowed and she was staring at the salt shaker so intently that he half expected it to burst under her gaze. Maybe she noticed him watching her, because she cleared her throat slightly and sat up.

"So, I wanted to say sorry about yesterday. Like, all of yesterday. I was in a bad mood and I shouldn't have been so… Pissy. I'm sorry that the conversation turned out like it did. I imagine talking about your past with a group of strangers isn't exactly how you want to spend your afternoon. I'm sorry for the things I said and mostly, you know, for hitting you. I'm not… I'm not really a very physical person. I usually don't even want to touch someone. I just… saw red and lashed out. I'm really sorry."

After he slid his plate away, Wufei put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, with his chin resting on his thumbs. "Apology accepted. Though, I can take more than one punch, so you needn't worry."

Phe tried to hold back a smile and shrugged. "Yeah, I figured… You didn't even flinch. You know, you have a really sharp jaw. I think I hurt myself more than I hurt you."

"That's because you only managed to clip me. If you had actually landed an ideal hit, I would at least be sore. Have you alerted Marty to the incident last night?" Wufei asked, changing the subject. While speaking of fighting was usually a topic he wouldn't have minded, it did bother him that he was having it with her. It was all information that she had known and forgotten. Maybe he hadn't accepted her new persona as fully as he thought.

She nodded as she started to clear the table, stacking their plates and silverware to only make one trip since their glasses were still filled for the moment. "Called him at about six thirty when I woke up for a bit. He was livid that I hadn't called him earlier, but he knew he wouldn't have heard his phone anyhow. He wasn't thrilled that I let you stay," she said with a laugh. "Don't be offended. He never had a daughter, so he's very protective. I think he would have been unhappy with any guy staying on my couch, even if for just a few hours and even after responding to a panicked phone call at three in the morning."

"Well, maybe he's right. In the future, you should really object. I would have left if you had really meant it when you said I couldn't stay. What if I had meant you harm? You let me into your house and then went to bed. I could've killed you, and you wouldn't have even posed a challenge," he said, quite seriously.

Since Phe had only had two years of experiences to learn from, and only a secure, small town to give her those experiences, maybe scaring her a little bit was a good idea. In some ways, she seemed a bit naive and too trusting. If there was a chance that The Rapture ever showed up on the island after her, it would do her some good to err on the side of caution.

She sighed loudly as she dropped the plates into the sink. "I feel like I just can't win with you."

"I'm not known for my charming personality," he replied dryly.

"I dunno, I don't usually think it's that bad," Phe said and placed one hand on her hip and the other on the counter. "But the desire to punch you in the face is definitely coming back."

Wufei's mouth twitched upwards for a moment before returning to his passive expression. "I assure you, if you try, you'll be on the ground in seconds."

"Why Wufei, are you flirting with me?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes.

"…No?"

Phe put her head back and looked at the ceiling, shaking her head. "How is it that I, someone who just learned what a 'your mom' joke was a month ago, have a better sense of humor than you? I think you're the most literal person I've ever met."

"That could very well be true. Are you going to report the incident to the police?" Annnnnd he successfully changed the subject, yet again.

"Yeah, I guess. They'll probably blow me off, but I guess I should tell them in case something else happens. Sheriff Donnelly turns a blind eye to pretty much anything that happens here because he doesn't want to deal with it. I mean, it's not like bad stuff really happens. Kids sometimes egg houses, or have parties up in the unused hunting lodges. Sometimes people's boats are taken for a spin if they stupidly leave their keys out. He'll probably blow last night off as a peeping tom or something," Phe said.

"An incompetent law enforcement official like that should be fired."

She turned and waved her arm a bit as she started running water in the sink. "Well, there's no one else who wants the job. Deputy Daniels is out on maternity leave for the next month too, so it's just him."

Wufei thought about it for barely a moment before saying, "then I'll go with you. If the Sheriff refuses to make an official report, I'm sure I can convince him."

"I can do it on my own," Phe replied and began rinsing their dishes. "I know I probably seem inept with how some people coddle me, but I'm really not."

Of course, her words didn't change his mind. In actuality, the fact that she insisted she could do it on her own only made him want to go more. "I'm sure you can, but I'm involved now, so I'm going." Wufei stood and slid his chair back so that he could move around the table to grab his coat. "We'll meet at eleven at Marty's and go over to the Sheriff's together."

It sounded like perhaps she muttered something about him telling her what to do, but he couldn't hear over the sound of running water. She shut the faucet off and looked over to him. "Fine. You're leaving now?"

Wufei nodded and pulled his coat on. He still needed to slip his gun beneath his shirt without her seeing, and it would be easier to do with his jacket already on. "I'm just going to go get cleaned up and changed. Eleven, don't be late."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Phe said and waved him off. "Don't slip on the way down the hill… And thanks again."

000

His first indication that something was off came when he reached the gate to the Tranquil Inn. It was unlatched and swaying slightly in the breeze. Wufei pushed it open with some caution and continued on down the path to his guesthouse. Once he hit the side of the Inn, he reached back and withdrew his weapon. There were far too many footprints in the snow. He knew that Maggie and her family had left for Florida for the winter, and there was only one other person checking on the Inn to make sure the pipes didn't freeze.

It was suspicious to Wufei because none of the footprints seemed to lead to the front or back porch of the Inn, leading him to believe that whoever had been back there, had gone specifically to his guesthouse. He pressed himself against the side of the Inn and peeked around the corner to see if there was anyone in the area. Though he saw no one, he did see that his door had been forced open.

From his vantage point, it did not appear that anyone was inside. His blinds were half drawn, as they usually were, so he could see right into his room. Wufei chose to move forward as quietly as he could—though that was rather difficult with the sound of snow crunching beneath his boots.

He peaked through the crack in the front door to see that most of his room had been torn apart. At first, he could only hear the sound of his own breathing, but then he heard a bit of soft movement. Carefully, he nudged the door open and twisted in, gun pointed towards the area he heard the movement.

Wufei frowned as he saw his 'culprit.'

There was a cat, with long, wet white fur sitting beneath his desk. It showed no fear of him as it meowed and slipped out from its hiding spot to circle his legs.

He stepped around the feline to clear the bathroom. Even the vanity drawers had been dumped, much to his dismay. Wufei lowered his gun and stomped towards his front door, slamming it shut. How could this have happened? He put his empty hand into his hair and grasped a handful of the black strands in frustration. His eyes flickered over the room, ignoring the cat that was now jumping on his bed and making itself comfortable.

In seconds he realized the gravity of the situation.

His computer was gone. His Preventers issued computer was gone.

Wufei dug his phone from his pocket, cursing the fact that his battery was at twenty-three percent, and immediately dialed Quatre's number. It only rang three times before it went to voice mail. He hung up and went to the side of his bed to look for his charger. Despite digging around, he couldn't find it anywhere near where he had left it. If he were to guess, whoever had swiped his laptop, had taken his phone charger as well.

Smart bastards.

Because he had nothing else of consequence, Wufei didn't bother picking up any of his personal effects that had been strewn about the room. Instead, he headed straight for the now-busted front door. He only made it three steps outside before his phone was buzzing. It was Trowa calling.

"About time someone called me," Wufei snarled through the phone. He knew he didn't have long before his battery was completely drained from the phone call.

"Someone just logged into our network from your terminal. They aren't using any of your passwords though—"

"That's because someone stole my computer!" Wufei snapped and twisted on his heel to go back into his guesthouse. If there was anyone outside, he didn't want them hearing even half of his conversation. "I need a remote wipe on it now."

"Isabella's already on it. What happened?"

"Someone broke into my place while I was out, and I just came back now. What were they accessing?" Wufei paced back and forth. When he ran out of floor space that wasn't covered in clothes, he started reaching down and snatching up shirt after shirt, and throwing them on his now-empty desk.

"They started with the registrar you were apparently working on, and then moved onto files Isabella moved over from the CSO system. Most were about the Horsemen project. We aren't sure yet how much they managed to access before we were alerted to the unusual activity. Isabella is almost positive they were after information on Edan, however."

Wufei squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I talked to Heero yesterday. Apparently I am no longer trustworthy enough to be 'in the know'?"

There was a loud sigh from Trowa's end, and then some shifting about. "That's… half true. It isn't that you aren't trustworthy. Quatre would just prefer you stay put, that's all. If you know too much, you're likely to go gallivanting about on your own."

"So? I'm most useful when—"

"Wufei. Quatre wants you to stay there."

Wufei was about to open his mouth and shout at Trowa—tell him that he heard him the first time. However, since his phone started beeping to alert him to a dying battery, he had a few seconds to think about Trowa's words. "He thinks they're coming, doesn't he? The Rapture? They're coming for her?"

"We don't know for sure, just—"

Whatever else Trowa had to say, Wufei didn't hear it. His phone shut off and he had no way to charge it. The best he could hope was that one of the small shops in town carried a charger that would be compatible with his phone. He wasn't hopeful however, since it was a Preventers issued device as well, and not exactly a standard model.

Wufei sat down on his bed and rubbed his brow while trying to figure out the best plan he could come up with. No matter what he thought of however, it involved him leaving, or telling someone like Marty the truth about Phe. At best, he could try to get in touch with Heero again and try to get some back up… Even if he managed that, the people of Jasper's Cove would still be asking questions.

He nearly jumped when he felt the warm ball of fur he had already forgotten about, move over to sit against his back. Wufei turned and looked down at the cat. It looked up at him with big blue eyes. As Wufei stared into them, the cat started purring and slowly blinking at him in contentment.

"If you think I'm taking care of you, you're sorely mistaken," he muttered to the feline. "I have my hands full as it is."

000

As Wufei stood outside Marty's, which had yet to open for the day, his mood only soured. Should he make his own police report with the Sheriff? He wasn't eager to have anyone looking into his own things and documenting what was missing, but he would have to say something about the busted door. Someone would probably want to get in touch with Maggie and let her know that there had been a break in—though he didn't know if he would get the blame for being a 'suspicious tenant' or something like that.

He checked his watch again to see that Phe was already six minutes late. He would give her four more minutes before he went looking for her.

With a deep inhale and then exhale, he leaned against the side of Marty's. It would do him no good to be worked up when meeting with the Sheriff. Wufei knew that it was best to go into the situation with a calm, clear mind.

However, he seemed destined to fail on that front.

Wufei tried to ignore the approaching figure by staring intently at the streetlight a few feet in front of him, but apparently it didn't help. Instead, the woman continued to approach him, a coy smile on her lips.

"Well hey there."

He looked at Lea from the corner of his eye, doing his best to hold back a growl of irritation. "Phe should be here any minute now, so it would be best if you were on your way."

Lea pulled one of her hands from her leather jacket and waved at him. "Oh please, I can handle her."

Wufei hummed and finally turned his head to look at the woman directly. "Really? Like the way you handled her when you sent two men to harass her on Halloween? Or two children to vandalize her place of work? Yes, I can see you're certainly handling her, and in a very mature way, as well."

His words earned him a scowl. Lea braved another step closer as she put her hands on her hips and made herself as tall as she could—which, admittedly, was a bit taller than him since she was wearing slightly heeled boots. "Hey, I haven't done anything to you, so you don't need to be such an ass. It's just a little fun, that's all. Not everyone here likes Phe, so you should probably remember that before getting too cozy with her. People might decide that they don't like you either."

For just a moment longer, Wufei stared at Lea through narrowed eyes. Finally, he pushed himself from the wall and stepped towards her. Despite her best efforts to come off as strong and brave, she instantly shrunk before him. He was hardly surprised. He could be very intimidating when he wanted to be, and until that point, he had generally chosen to try to be overlooked.

"I can't imagine what gave you the impression that I care at all what the people here think of me. Regardless, your words sound like a threat, and I do not take threats lightly. So if anyone should want to show me their dislike, I can assure you that they will not like the consequences. Feel free to spread the word around, because that is the only warning I'll give. I can also assure you that if anyone else tries to handle Phe, or even Marty or Marcy, you will be the first person I come looking for. Understood?"

Lea visibly swallowed and her mouth twitched with words she seemed to want to say. However, she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut, lower her gaze, and take a step backwards instead. Once she was out of his reach, she stopped and looked back up at him. "You came here for her, didn't you?"

Over Lea's shoulder, Wufei could see Phe finally reach the bottom of her hill, four blocks away. He turned his attention back to Lea and stared at her with dark eyes. "It would be wise to keep your thoughts to yourself."

Lea quickly nodded and turned on her heel, walking briskly away from him.

Once she was a block away, and Phe a block closer, Wufei crossed the street so that he could meet Phe sooner.

"Were you talking with Lea?" Phe asked as soon as they neared one another. Her brows were furrowed and she had a frown firmly in place.

"Chitchat," Wufei replied with a shrug. "You're late."

She rolled her eyes. "I know, I know, sorry. I just wanted to dry my hair before I left so it didn't freeze as soon as I walked outside."

"It's not that cold out."

"Well it's still uncomfortable to have wet hair in the cold. Can we just go now?" Phe didn't wait for an answer before she also turned and headed in the same general direction as Lea.

As the pair walked in silence, Wufei couldn't help but eye Lea's back—which was two blocks ahead of them on the opposite side of the road. He certainly hadn't intended to threaten her or reveal his involvement with Phe, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated with his predicament.

Well, he was never the indirect sort anyhow. It was only a matter of time before a few of his secrets spilled out into the open.

000

Author's Note: Okay, so I originally had it cut after Wufei speaks to the cat, but then decided to add this section on. There's still an entire part of them going to the Sherriff's, but I haven't written it yet… I will include it with chapter seven, but if you feel like maybe the chapter breaks should be changed, I will definitely consider it.

Wufei's outburst with Lea… I feel like if she had caught him NOT shortly after his guesthouse was broken into and his things were stolen, he would have held his tongue. However, Wufei is known to be someone who acts upon his emotions, so despite his best efforts, everything sort of bubbled over. Also, for the way that some things may go a bit later in the story, it was important that someone who wasn't close to Phe suspect Wufei's motives for being on the island.

As far as the cat… Yeah, not plot related or anything, at this point in time. I was just recently discussing cats getting into houses/cars that have open doors and it seemed appropriate since it's the winter. Cats seek shelter often, right? Though Wufei has no intention of caring for the cat, it just sort of starts hanging around him, so he unofficially has a cat. I am open to names. Otherwise, it may just be referred to as "Cat."

Thanks!

A.F


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